Tag Archive for: Switzerland

Basel-based Nuclidium AG has secured an additional tranche for its ongoing Series B financing round, bringing the total to approximately €115 million. The theranostics company is developing copper-based radiopharmaceuticals that are used both for diagnostic imaging and therapeutic applications.

Shopping spree at Eli Lilly? The US pharma giant is acquiring no fewer than three companies, all active in infectious diseases. Among them is Swiss biotech LimmaTech Biologics AG, led by former CureVac CEO Franz-Werner Haas. Yet Lilly’s ambitions extend well beyond classical infectious disease markets, targeting areas ranging from autoimmune disorders and antimicrobial resistance to chronic immune dysfunction and even cancer.

Source: Swiss Biotech Report 2026

If one follows the figures in the Swiss Biotech Report 2026, the green lights are more prominent than the red warning signals. The Swiss biotech industry continued its growth momentum in 2025 and even reached new record highs. According to the industry report presented in early May at Swiss Biotech Day in Basel, total revenue among companies classified as biotech — which in this case explicitly does not include Roche and Novartis, for example — rose to CHF 7.5 billion, up from CHF 7.2 billion the previous year. The drivers were a growing number of market-ready products and persistently strong demand for specialized CDMO services.

Jeito Capital has closed its second dedicated biopharma fund, Jeito II, on a record US$1.2 billion (€1 billion), making it the largest fund ever raised by a fully independent European biopharma-focused private equity firm. The move firmly places Jeito among the leading global backers of clinical stage innovation.

Novartis is back on the acquisition trail, agreeing to buy California-based Excellergy for up to $2bn. The antibody Exl-111 is intended to strengthen its allergy pipeline and go beyond the current standard of care. The deal is part of a broader string of acquisitions aimed at systematically expanding the group’s innovation base.

Novartis is pressing ahead with its aggressive expansion strategy in oncology, striking again: the Basel-based group is acquiring a novel PI3Kalpha inhibitor from Synnovation Therapeutics for up to USD 3 billion.

Setback after earlier optimism: the Roche drug giredestrant has delivered mixed clinical data. Several clinical trials had suggested the drug could play an important role in the treatment of hormone-dependent breast tumours and potentially become a blockbuster for the company. Now, however, a key Phase III study has failed to meet its primary endpoint, even as regulatory submissions are already under way.

The Zurich-based developer is increasingly focusing its pipeline on radiopharmaceutical cancer therapies. A recent development agreement with isotope specialist Eckert & Ziegler marks another step in that direction. The collaboration aims to develop and manufacture so-called Radio-DARPin therapeutics, in which targeted protein molecules deliver radioactive isotopes directly to tumours. Early clinical data on the DARPin molecules in combination with radioisotopes suggest targeted tumour localisation. Proof of efficacy, however, is still pending.

Zurich-based oncology biotech Araris Biotech AG has entered into a research collaboration with an option to license with Japan’s Chugai Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Roche. The aim of the partnership is to develop next-generation antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs). While Araris itself is now Japanese-owned – a wholly owned subsidiary of Taiho Pharmaceutical, part of the Otsuka Group – its research activities remain firmly rooted in Zurich. That presence was highlighted last year when the Strüngmann brothers, German billionaire twins, awarded a prize to the company’s founders.

The Australian–Swiss plasma specialist CSL is relying on technology from Switzerland for recombinant polyclonal immunoglobulins (IgG). With Memo Therapeutics, the company has entered into a collaboration and option agreement with a total potential value of up to CHF 265 million. This is good news for Memo, while CSL, following substantial job cuts including in Marburg, could also use some different headlines for a change.