The Health Valley covers the Western Switzerland region, where the life sciences sector extends from Geneva to Bern, including the seven cantons of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Jura,

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

and

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

. 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 of

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

in California, United States (where the focus is on

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

). According to Swiss newspaper

Le Temps ' (, ) is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. The paper was launched in 1998, formed out of the merger of two other newspapers, and (the former being a merger of two other papers), ...

, there were close to 1,000 biotech and medtech companies in the Health Valley in 2017, employing 25,000 people. The Health Valley network is led by BioAlps, an association funded by the 7 cantons of Western Switzerland and 12 academic members such as EPFL, UNIL, UNINE, UNIGE,

HES-SO The University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland () is situated in Western Switzerland. It is formally accredited by the Swiss Accreditation Council. The university is divided into six faculties: Design and Fine Arts; Business ...

HEIG-VD The School of Engineering and Management Vaud (abbrev. HEIG-VD, in the official French form Haute Ecole d'Ingénierie et de Gestion du Canton de Vaud) is a public university in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland. It was created by the merger of the E ...

, HEPIA, UNIFR, CHUV,

HUG A hug is a form of Affection, endearment, found in virtually all Communities, human communities, in which two or more people put their arms around the neck, back, under the armpits or waists of one another and hold each other closely. If more th ...

, 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 th
Fondation Inartis
of the regional actors is located a
healthvalley.ch
According to Swiss journalist, the idea of a Health Valley was actively supported by

Patrick Aebischer Patrick Aebischer (born 22 November 1954 in Fribourg, Switzerland) was the president of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) from 17 March 2000 to 31 December 2016. He is a professor in neuroscience and head of the Neurodegen ...

during his tenure as president of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne/EPFL (2000–2016). Notably, Aebischer promoted teaching and research in the

life sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, ...

while deepening cooperation with Lausanne University Hospital/CHUV. Biotech expert Jürg Zürcher argues that Switzerland as a whole constitutes a cluster, with the

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

BioValley 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 the

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

-London cluster in the United Kingdom, the Boston,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and San Diego clusters in the United States, as well as emerging ones in India (Hyderabad,

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, New Delhi) and China (Shanghai,

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

, SICHH, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Université de Lausanne, Wyss Center for bio and neuro-engineering *Companies : Abionic - AC Immune - ALRO Engineering SA - Altran - Anecova - Bachem - Bracco - Celgene - Covance - CSL Behring - Debiopharm - Eli Lilly - EspeRare - Ferring Pharmaceuticals - Glenmark Pharmaceuticals - Haleon - IBM - IE Life Science Engineering - Incyte – Iqone Healthcare - Lonza - MayBa.ch - - Merck - NV Logistics - Regen Lab - Socar Research - Socorex - Sophia Genetics - Sunstar - Symbios - Symetis - TRB Chemedica - UCB - Valsynthèse *Support: A3P Suisse - Banque Cantonale du Valais - BioAlps - Biopôle - Campus Biotech - Espace Création - Etat de Neuchâtel - EY - Gevers - GGBa - Inartis Network - Innovaud - Katzarov - Kessler - Lausanne Region - MedC. Partners - Medical Cluster - Promotion économique du Canton de Berne - Salon EPHJ-EPMT-SMT - SICHH - The Ark - UniverCité - Voisin Life Sciences Consulting *Hospitals : CHUV - Clinique de la Source - Clinique Romande de réadaptation -

- Institut de recherche en réadaptation-réinsertion *People
Prof. Benoît Dubuis

Ernesto Bertarelli Ernesto Silvio Maurizio Bertarelli (born 22 September 1965) is an Italian-born Swiss billionaire businessman and philanthropist. The 2017 edition of the Sunday Times Rich List estimated the family's wealth at £11.5 billion, an increase of £1 ...

Hansjörg Wyss Johann Georg "Hansjörg" Wyss ( ; born 19 September 1935) is a Swiss billionaire businessman and donor to politically liberal and environmental causes in the United States. He is the founder and former president and chairman of Synthes, a medic ...

Notes and references

External links

BioAlps - Life Sciences ClusterInartis FoundationRepublic of Innovation - Health Valley databaseSwiss Life Sciences DatabaseInVivo magazine
{{Portal bar, Science, Switzerland Subdivisions of Switzerland Romandy Pharmaceutical companies of Switzerland Biomedical districts Science and technology in Switzerland

See also

Notes and references

External links