Campus Biotech, Switzerland

Last updated: 11.01.2017

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Campus Biotech is a new initiative that aims to drive forward the biotechnology sector in the Lake Geneva region, creating new opportunities for scientists and entrepreneurs. Campus Biotech was formed following the announcement by Merck Serono in 2012 that it would be closing its Geneva site. Formerly the global headquarters of Serono, the biotechnology company built over three generations by the Bertarelli family, this site had been the hub for life sciences in the region.

Campus Biotech’s mission was to acquire the site from Merck Serono and to ensure that it could be utilised as a focal point for scientists and entrepreneurs in the life sciences sector, rather than be purchased for property development. That mission is now being realised, with, among others, the Human Brain Project and the Bertarelli Professorships in Translational Neuroscience located – or soon to be located – at the emerging hub.

Campus Biotech has converted the former Serono site in Sécheron, Geneva, into a multi- development facility to become a centre of excellence in biotechnology and life science research. The Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Geneva (UNIGE) will occupy 15,000m2 of the site. Half of this area will be utilized by research groups from the two universities and the other half by the new Wyss Center for Bio- and Neuro-Engineering – a model for innovation, collaboration and technology translation.

This Center will be created by The Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and the University of Geneva following a donation of CHF100m from the Wyss Foundation. It will follow the same principles and model of the Wyss Center for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

The Bertarelli Foundation has contributed its two existing EPFL chairs to the new Campus project, as well as increasing its donation with two additional chairs at the Wyss Center.

As well as this substantial research activity, the rest of the Sécheron site will be given over to small start-ups and other related businesses and sectors that will benefit from this unique environment that blends both science and industry. It is this combination of academia and entrepreneurialism that defines the ethos of Campus Biotech.

Dr. Benoît Dubuis
Director Foundation Campus Biotech Geneva
Development Director Wyss Center
 
Contact:                     
Isabelle Jeanclaude-Etter (Campus Biotech)
Tel:      +41 79 198 39 32 Tel:      +41 21 695 58 88
Address: 
9, Chemin des Mines
CH-1202 Geneva
SWITZERLAND

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