Find the biotech talent to build faster in Europe

The Swiss Biotech Report 2026 confirms what companies experience in the Basel Area Life Sciences Supercluster: 33,000+ life sciences experts, specialized infrastructure, strong financing activity and direct access to cross-border talent.

Biotech companies do not just need great science. They need the right people around it, fast. That is where the Basel Area Life Sciences Supercluster gives companies a practical edge. Europe’s most concentrated life sciences ecosystem brings together over 33,000 experts across the industry ecosystem and value chain. The result is efficient, effective hiring: fewer delays, less wasted spending and faster access to the specialized talent needed to move from lab to launch. 

The Swiss Biotech Report 2026 adds fresh weight to that advantage. Its example of NBE Therapeutics shows why Basel works for R&D-driven companies. They chose this location because the region brings global pharma companies, growing biotechs and ambitious startups close together, creating a culture of collaboration, fast learning and access to specialized infrastructure. The Basel Area also draws scientists and technical experts from Swiss universities, neighboring France and Germany, and further afield. 

For companies developing complex therapies, proximity matters. The right people are easier to find when they are already close to the right infrastructure, partners and scientific networks. 

Talent close to where the work is 

NBE Therapeutics focuses on next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for oncology. Since becoming part of Boehringer Ingelheim, the company has combined its proprietary payload and antibody-conjugation technologies with broader pharmaceutical capabilities to support a growing ADC pipeline. Its expansion includes a new ADC R&D center in Basel, aligned with Boehringer Ingelheim’s global oncology strategy. 

That kind of growth needs more than laboratory space. It needs scientists, technical specialists, translational expertise, pharma experience and the ability to recruit across borders. 

The Basel Area’s tri-national position between Switzerland, France and Germany expands the reachable talent pool and helps companies build teams quickly. The region offers more than double the R&D expertise of other Swiss hubs, along with strong commercial life sciences talent for companies scaling toward market. 

Talent helps companies move faster. Capital helps them keep moving.

The Swiss Biotech Report’s regional financing chart shows that in 2025, the Basel Area recorded CHF 537 million in public company financing and CHF 377 million in private company financing. For companies operating in a capital-intensive sector, that combination of talent density, pharma proximity and financing activity is commercially significant.

The Basel Area also gives innovation-driven companies access to practical R&D support. For example, through the Basel Incentive Program, eligible companies in Basel-Stadt can receive financial support for R&D labor costs, depreciation on R&D or high-tech manufacturing assets and clinical studies conducted in Switzerland. Labor costs and depreciation costs in Basel-Stadt can be supported at up to 25%, depending on the eligible cost base and funding category.

For biotech teams, that can make setup and scale-up more efficient from day one. Innovation here can start with immediate cash back on the activities that matter most: hiring R&D talent, investing in equipment and running Swiss clinical studies. ent, investing in equipment and running Swiss clinical studies.

The Basel Area Life Sciences Supercluster gives biotech companies a dense, connected environment for serious scientific work. 

The Swiss Biotech Report 2026 illustrates the practical value of that environment: specialized talent, pharma and biotech proximity, cross-border reach, regional financing activity and incentive support for innovation-led companies. 

In biotech, distance can become drag. In the Basel Area, the people, partners, infrastructure and capital conversations are already close enough to help promising science find its next step.

Check out the full report on the Swiss Biotech website for more insights into the talent, financing and company examples shaping biotech momentum in Switzerland.