Business expansion

Your breakthrough destination

Level-up your Research & Development with like-minds inside mainland Europe’s most concentrated ecosystem

Scientist looking at a microscope

European scale destination

Your enzyme for innovation

With over 800 companies and 1,000 research groups spanning biotech, medtech, healthtech and pharma, you’re never far from the network you need. Europe’s supercluster surrounds you with peers and pioneers. So whether you’re in the discovery, investment or acquisition stage, futureproof your plans in the place that’s serious about life sciences.

Sciientists in lab, talking

Futureproof your pipeline

From licensing and regulation to Proof of Concept trials and full-scale production, the Basel Area’s tightly connected network of suppliers and partners supports your entire journey from lab to launch. And if out-licensing is your goal, your BD teams can land a leading pharma partner fuss-free.

FHNW School of Life Sciences in Muttenz, Basel Area

Unrivaled quantity meets expert quality

De-risk your R&D with top-tier talent from industry, academia and over 1,000 research groups.

In the Basel Area, unmatched excellence meets unrivaled scale. Hire from the highest density of life sciences companies, institutions and investors globally, or tap into the area’s three specialist academies—Basel-based ETH Zurich D-BSSE, University of Basel and FHNW Life Sciences. Producing almost 2,000 graduates annually, two-thirds at master’s or doctorate level, this region is your direct route to recruiting highly qualified, industry-ready talent, primed to accelerate your pipeline.

Unique R&D capability
  • 1,352 ecosystem players, making it highest density of life sciences companies, institutions and investors globally

  • 1,000+ research groups

  • 33,000+ life sciences experts, among whom 19,300 focus on R&D – Switzerland’s largest R&D life sciences talent pool

  • 66% of Basel Area’s life sciences graduates with master’s or doctorate

Dense network of service providers
  • Building technology cleanrooms and engineering

  • Lab analysis and R&D services

  • Pre-clinical and clinical trials (CRO)

  • Qualification and validation

  • Consulting services

  • Regulatory affairs

  • Manufacturing (CDMO)

Incentivizing your innovation

In the Basel Area, innovation starts with immediate cash back. Access up to 25% cash incentives on R&D costs, alongside one of Europe’s lowest corporate tax rates.

The Innovation Incentive Program rebates up to 25% of R&D salaries, 25% of equipment depreciation and 10% of Swiss clinical trial spend, shifting capital from overheads to experiments. Pair that with a corporate tax rate of 13%, dropping to 10.7% through R&D super-deductions and the patent box, plus tax holidays of up to ten years, and every Swiss franc saved fuels talent, trials and faster market entry.

Up to 0%

cash incentives for R&D costs

0%

lowest effective tax rate with R&D deductions

More R&D funding

Access up to 150% in R&D super-deductions, while Innosuisse, Switzerland’s innovation agency, covers up to 50% of your costs for projects with academic partners. In 2023 it awarded $610m, with an applicant success rate of 55%. That’s more than triple Horizon Europe’s 17% average.

Hero square image in the lab

A place where taking risks is rewarded

De-risk your research in the Basel Area with funding and deductions built for discovery. Fewer funding gaps mean capital stays on the bench-top, not the balance sheet, so discoveries move from lab to market faster and safer.

R&D reputation

Join your peers

The Basel Area is more than pharma: investments from Roche, Novartis and others power a world-class mix of institutes and infrastructure, helping you reach patients faster and with less risk.

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Botnar Institute of Immune Engineering B&W Logo svg
Boehringer Ingelheim Logo in Black & White
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Johnson & Johnson Logo in Black & White
Roche Logo in Black & White
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Novartis Logo in Black & White
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Discover your space to grow

Expand with ease in the Basel Area Supercluster. While Europe faces a lab space shortage, we offer move-in-ready, fully serviced R&D labs designed for growth. From shared desks to private labs and entire buildings—crafted by architects like Frank Gehry and Herzog & de Meuron—our sustainable, future-ready spaces inspire innovation and are available when you need them.

lab
For a smooth start

Tech Park Basel offers fully equipped lab and office space, surrounded by start-ups

Switzerland Innovation Park Main Campus in Allschwil
For the network you need

Switzerland Innovation Park Main Campus, Europe’s largest life sciences park

Life sciences location with lab facilites
More space to grow

The Basel Area provides 0.93 million m² of lab space per million people, edging out Boston (0.91 million m²) and far exceeding London (0.01 million m²)

Land faster with less friction

The Basel Area gets you from setup to science fast with easy permits, global talent access, low taxes, and turnkey labs. Contact us to get started.

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