Business expansion
Your breakthrough destination
Level-up your Research & Development with like-minds inside mainland Europe’s most concentrated ecosystem
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 life sciences supercluster surrounds you with peers and pioneers, expanding opportunities for R&D and collaboration. Whether you’re in the discovery, investment or acquisition stage, futureproof your plans in the place that’s serious about life sciences.
Unrivaled quantity meets expert quality
R&D in Switzerland means tapping into one of the top ranked tech and science workforces in the world.
In the Basel Area, you can hire from the talent pool with the highest density of life sciences companies, institutions and investors in the world, or find partners within one of area’s three specialist academies—Basel-based ETH Zurich D-BSSE, University of Basel and FHNW Life Sciences.
Basel Area’s universities produce 2,000 graduates each year, with two-thirds at master’s or doctorate level. This strong, reliable pipeline offers companies a direct route to recruiting highly qualified, industry-ready talent.
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 team has their pick of multiple leading pharma partners in close proximity.
Unique R&D capability
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1,352 ecosystem players, making it the highest density of life sciences companies, institutions and investors globally
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1,000+ research groups
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33,000+ life sciences experts, among whom 19,300 focus on R&D – Switzerland’s largest R&D life sciences talent pool
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66% of Basel Area’s life sciences graduates hold a master’s or doctorate
Dense network of service providers
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Building technology cleanrooms and engineering
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Lab analysis and R&D services
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Pre-clinical and clinical trials (CRO)
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Qualification and validation
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Consulting services
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Regulatory affairs
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Manufacturing (CDMO)
Tax & incentives
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 25% cash incentives for R&D costs
10.7% lowest effective tax rate with R&D deductions
Supportive R&D funding
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, so discoveries move from lab to market faster and safer.
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% – more than triple the 17% average of Horizon Europe.
Spaces designed for science
While Europe faces a lab space shortage, Basel Area is filled with 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.
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).
Join an innovation epicenter
Grow alongside the community of pioneers and industry leaders shaping the future of life sciences From global pharma to breakthrough biotechs, the Basel Area surrounds you with the partners, infrastructure and talent to move faster.
Europe’s top region for Phase III clinical trials
The Basel Area is Europe’s Phase III powerhouse. With 410 active trials per million people—nearly double London and close to Boston—the region offers unrivaled patient access and partner density. Crucially, 59% of studies sit in Phase III, meaning the region’s late-stage focus matures pipelines faster and safer, thereby de-risking development and accelerating returns. The Basel Area gets you from science to life at lightning speed.
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.
