According to Panda International, a recruitment consultancy firm for the life sciences industry, the pharmaceuticals sector accounts for 7% of GDP, 35% of manufacturing, and more than 8% of global production. Switzerland is one of the countries with the highest number of biotechnology patents per capita.
Key Factors of Success
The impressive variety of biotech, medical devices, and pharma companies that make up an impressive network of innovation are the main factors in Swiss success. The outstanding infrastructure in place, combined with excellent academic institutions, makes Swiss pharmaceutical companies research-oriented and innovative. Switzerland has a high availability of highly qualified scientists, especially due to its proximity to globally leading universities. Moreover, the healthcare system in the country supports the introduction of new medicines, offering companies access to a streamlined test and sales market through an established framework. The well-funded investment industry provides the necessary capital.
The pharmaceutical sector has become the largest industry in Switzerland. Traditional Swiss goods exports grew strongly during the years before the financial crisis. But only watch manufacturing and pharmaceutical production, and their exports have continued to rise since then. Pharmaceutical products as a share of traditional goods exports thus continued to increase and currently amount to about 36%, compared with 11% in 2000.
Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures
The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) issued a 2023 report on the pharmaceutical industry (https://www.efpia.eu/media/rm4kzdlx/the-pharmaceutical-industry-in-figures-2023.pdf), with Switzerland playing a significant role in the sector. With 89,886 million euros, it is the second-leading country in pharmaceutical exports after Germany. The sector´s trade balance reached 53,697 million euros, the highest sum among the reported countries. After the USA, Switzerland is the second-top pharmaceutical trading partner for the EU, with 33.9% EU imports and 12.9% EU exports.
When it comes to the development of new drugs as of January 2023, the Swiss-based company Novartis was to the leader among the global top pharmaceutical companies, according to Statista, the statistic portal for market data. With 194 products in the 2023 research and development pipeline, Roche leads the ranking, closely followed by another Swiss company, Novartis, and by Japanese Takeda.
According to Proclinical, the UK recruitment and consulting firm, two Swiss companies are among the top 10 world´s pharmaceutical companies: Roche and Novartis. With over 125 years of history in medical innovation, Roche is at the forefront of oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology, and neuroscience and is split into two divisions: pharma and diagnostics. In July 2023, Roche partnered with American biopharmaceutical company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth USD 2.8 billion for the development of a hypertension drug.
Novartis International AG, a multinational pharmaceutical company, is based in Basel. The firm has been on the face of the pharmaceutical industry for about 250 years, owing to its formation by the merger of Swiss companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz Laboratories in 1996. Novartis produces a range of products, including vaccines, contact lenses, over-the-counter drugs, veterinary medicines, etc.
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