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TheHealth Valley covers the Western Switzerland region, where the life sciences sector extends from Geneva to Bern, including the seven cantons ofBern,Fribourg,Geneva,Jura,Neuchâtel,Valais andVaud. This cluster presents a critical mass of 1,000 companies, research centers and innovation support structures, representing today more than 25,000 employees. The Health Valley strives to animate the life sciences ecosystem of the region, by establishing thriving bridges between its ambassadors.
The name of the Health Valley is inspired by that ofSilicon Valley in California, United States (where the focus is oninformation technology). According to Swiss newspaperLe Temps, there were close to 1,000 biotech and medtech companies in the Health Valley in 2017, employing 25,000 people.[1]
The Health Valley network is led by BioAlps, an association funded by the 7 cantons of Western Switzerland and 12 academic members such asEPFL,UNIL,UNINE,UNIGE,HES-SO,HEIG-VD, HEPIA,UNIFR,CHUV,HUG,CSEM,SIB. Its mission is to represent the whole ecosystem and to foster synergies between all the actors.
A digital interactive map, project led in 2016 by theFondation Inartis, of the regional actors is located athealthvalley.ch.
According to Swiss journalist, the idea of a Health Valley was actively supported byPatrick Aebischer during his tenure as president of theSwiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne/EPFL (2000–2016). Notably, Aebischer promoted teaching and research in thelife sciences while deepening cooperation withLausanne University Hospital/CHUV.[2][3]
Biotech expert Jürg Zürcher argues that Switzerland as a whole constitutes a cluster, with theBaselBioValley employing 50,000 people and the Zurich region employing 21,000. "Together, these three regions form the densest network of biotech firms anywhere in the world",Swiss Info notes, with over 40% of the world's pharmaceutical companies in the Basel region alone. Foreign competing clusters include theOxford-Cambridge-London cluster in the United Kingdom, the Boston,San Francisco and San Diego clusters in the United States, as well as emerging ones in India (Hyderabad,Bangalore, New Delhi) and China (Shanghai,Shenzhen).
