PULSE: At the heart of Switzerland’s health valley

Switzerland is an idyllic country known throughout the world for its economic prosperity and political stability. It has always attracted foreign companies thanks to its main assets: a high-quality infrastructure, a stable and predictable legal framework, a competitive tax system, a modern and dense road and rail network, a qualified workforce with high added value and the legendary beauty of its landscapes.

Switzerland also has a long tradition of welcoming people. Its population has grown by almost one million people in the last ten years. The foreign population is one of the highest in the world, at almost 22%. Switzerland boasts an outstanding integration capacity thanks to a very liberal labour market. In the 50s and 60s of the last century, immigration tended to be working class. Today, the nature of immigration has changed: many highly qualified foreigners come to Switzerland, with their families, to work.

Finally, one of the many features of this country of 8.7 million inhabitants is the apprenticeship model, which is typically Swiss and allows most of the population, already during their young years, to learn a technical trade by exchanging their final school years with practical work in different types of companies. This is an ideal complement to the advanced training offered at the two Federal Institutes of Technology in Zurich and Lausanne, which are ranked among the best in the world.

Abroad, Switzerland is first known for its watches, its mountains, its cheese, and its chocolate. All these marvels will continue to make its reputation for decades. However, another prestigious reality is less well known: the strength of its pharmaceutical industry. Of course, everyone knows the two giants Novartis and Roche, but even in Switzerland, few people know that more than 50% of Swiss exports come from the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors. This represents almost CHF120 billion in exports each year.

Health Valley of the Romandie

The strength of the biopharmaceutical sector can be seen in the figures: one in twenty jobs in Switzerland depends directly or indirectly on the biopharma industry, which represents nearly 300,000 jobs. A true economic pillar, pharma accounts for 10% of the Swiss GDP. The sector’s R&D expenditure amounts to more than CHF 7 billion per year. All these figures have been growing steadily for a quarter of a century and everything indicates that this extraordinary dynamism will continue for a long time.

Historically, the pharmaceutical industry first developed in the eastern, German-speaking part of Switzerland, but the western part of the country – the French-speaking part – has not been left behind and has been growing steadily for the last 15 years. In reference to Silicon Valley, it has become common to refer to the “Health Valley” of French-speaking Switzerland to describe the dynamism of the life sciences around the Lake Geneva area. The latest example: in May 2022, the American giant Cytiva set up operations in Nyon, halfway between Geneva and Lausanne, in brand new premises covering 7,400 m2 where research, engineering and service teams have been located alongside production teams. The new facility is intended to become Cytiva’s global centre of excellence for cell and gene therapies (the company offers novel forms of treatment for severe forms of leukaemia).

Strong pharma location

In Western Switzerland, in the field of life sciences alone, there are some 40 research institutes and 1100 companies employing some 35,000 people. The local authorities have a lot to do with this. They accompany the arrival of these new companies specialized in pharma and biotech, help them with administrative procedures, offer attractive tax solutions and sometimes indirect economic support, depending on the size of the company concerned and its development potential. Not to mention the presence in Switzerland of a solid and powerful local financial system that is always attentive to the needs of companies at all stages of their development.

Swiss army knives of Biopharma

With the new modular innovation centre called PULSE (discover.pulse.swiss), which is currently under construction, Health Valley will have a new flagship with 43,000 m2 of floor space that will accommodate more than 800 users from 2024 in a concept that is hyper-targeted to the needs of the biopharmaceutical industry with affordable rents; all of this in the peaceful municipality of Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, which is an integral part of the Lausanne conurbation, with of course a daycare centre, restaurant, terraces, greenery, as well as a vast underground parking lot.

Supported by a private investor (EPIC Suisse, listed on the Swiss stock exchange), PULSE has enjoyed the unconditional support of the Vaud political authorities from the outset. The project embodies the desire to attract new companies from the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors to the canton of Vaud. PULSE offers them the opportunity with two modular buildings of 21,000 m2 and 22,000 m2, its impressive heights (5.5 meters on the first floor, 4.5 meters on the upper floors, with the possibility of combining these heights), its high floor loads (2 tons on the first floor, 1 ton on the upper floors), its vast surfaces (up to 5,000 m2) and its 12 loading/unloading docks for logistics.

In collaboration with users from the biotech and medtech sectors, the designers of the PULSE project anticipated their needs and built a building capable of meeting all challenges. Its technical characteristics speak for themselves: all fresh air renewal up to 10 volumes/hour, 100 watts/m² electrical installation, wet lab and dry lab equipment, etc. The key word of the project is flexibility. PULSE can accommodate spaces dedicated to research and innovation, laboratories (including ISO standards), biotech, advanced chemistry, and fill & finish production units, etc. Absolutely all needs can be covered, from one end of the production chain to the other, whether for a start-up in full bloom or a large pharmaceutical laboratory seeking operational excellence in all circumstances. In short: the Swiss Army knife philosophy has been applied to an industrial building.

 

PULSE – in the heart of the Health Valley

Real plug & play solution

The anticipation of these needs generates another significant advantage: substantial savings during the move-in phase, as practically no additional costs are required to adapt a site to the specific needs of biopharma and medtech. The building is a true “plug & play” solution and can be put into operation without major modifications.

PULSE offers a place to live in the heart of Switzerland and Europe, capable of attracting qualified employees from all over the world. It offers a specialized environment (the Health Valley of the French-speaking part of Switzerland) with opportunities for partnerships with other laboratories and collaborations with other research and development institutes. Finally, it provides modular space and equipment that will allow the premises to evolve as the company grows while ensuring continuity of activities. The first users will be able to move into the site as early as 2024.

Contact us:

Dirk Projahn
pulse@projahn.ch
+41 78 770 10 88, +41 44 340 08 81
discover.pulse.swiss