LIFE SCIENCES & Health

At the heart of Health Valley

The canton of Vaud is home to a very significant number of high-quality infrastructures as well as knowledge and expertise in the field of life sciences. Indeed, the region is often referred to as "Health Valley."

The University Hospital of the Canton of Vaud (CHUV) plays a central role in the sectors of medical care, research, and training. It develops ambitious projects such as "Neurotech,” a platform that is unique in Europe and which is dedicated to the evaluation of the impact of new technologies in the field of neurosciences. The department of oncology, led by Professor George Coukos, conducts renowned international work into cancer research, while Agora, a center devoted to cancer research, will be inaugurated in 2018 and will feature 300 researchers and doctors.

The region has positioned itself at the forefront of research in these domains, and also in the fields of neurosciences, immunology, nutrition, and cardiovascular diseases. Innovative disciplines such as bioinformatics, medical imaging, and robotic surgery are also developing rapidly.

The canton has almost 400 businesses and as many laboratories active in life sciences, and the ecosystem in Vaud is continually being enriched by the creation of start-ups. In 2016, new companies in Health Valley attracted 7.4% of global venture capital investment in the sector.

Around 60 companies from abroad, including Medtronic and Becton Dickinson, have chosen to develop their industrial activities and services in the region.

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«Thanks to its central location in “Health Valley,” Medtronic benefits from the expertise it needs during the entire lifecycle of its products: from industrialization to scale-up, manufacturing and commercialization. Medtronic’s training center for healthcare professionals, on the campus of our EMEA headquarters, is also ideally situated to contribute to the local life sciences ecosystem.»

Rob Ten Hoedt
Executive Vice President & President, EMEA, Medtronic

Our success stories

Parker Hannifin

For over a century, Parker Hannifin has contributed to technological advances that create a better world. With its Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) headquarters in the Canton of Vaud, the US conglomerate offers solutions in a broad range of markets and industrial applications.

Merck

Merck develops advanced treatments in the canton of Vaud. Now, the German multinational plans to expand its production capacity in the region.

Incyte

Incyte Biosciences International Sàrl, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Lausanne, Switzerland, is an integrated global oncology company focused on transforming the lives of cancer patients with leading-edge medicines. It is working on new medicines to advance the treatment of various forms of acute and chronic leukemia, lung cancer and other difficult-to-treat cancers.

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News and events

3/29/2023

Alithea Genomics gets CHF 500,000 from FIT

The EPFL spin-off is active in high-throughput RNA sequencing, used to examine gene expression and discover new biomarkers and drugs. The Foundation for Technological Innovation (FIT) has chosen to support Alithea with a Tech Growth loan of CHF 500,000 to bring two new products to the market.

3/8/2023

Thirteen high-growth companies join Scale Up Vaud in 2023

Thirteen high-tech companies have joined the Scale Up Vaud program this year: Aequivalent, Bloom Biorenewables, ClearSpace, CREAL, CYSEC, Daphne Technology, INPHER, Insolight, Samantree Medical, Sensile Technologies, Smeetz, Swibeco and Talent.com. A total of 50 Vaud-based firms are now part of the program, and together they raised more than CHF 525 million in capital in 2022. Since they were founded, they’ve created nearly 3,500 jobs in Switzerland and some 4,900 jobs globally.

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