immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: LifeSciences

  • GETEC takes over Rhine Valley Life Science Park from Novartis

    GETEC takes over Rhine Valley Life Science Park from Novartis

    The pharmaceutical group Novartis is handing over the further development of the Rhine Valley Life Science Park in Stein to the energy service provider and industrial park operator GETEC, based in Muttenz BL. According to a Novartis media release, the aim is to maximise the economic potential of the park and develop it professionally. Financial details of this transaction were not disclosed. The transfer of all assets is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

    Novartis will retain the site as its largest tenant and will continue to manufacture medicines and therapies there. The company operates a manufacturing plant in Stein for solid dosage forms and drugs for injection, cell and gene therapies, as well as a milling and mixing centre for chemical manufacturing.

    “After a detailed analysis, Novartis has come to the conclusion that transferring the management of the Rhine Valley Life Science Park to a professional industrial park operator can better maximise and develop the economic potential of the site and facilitate the settlement of new companies,” Steffen Lang, President Operations and member of the Novartis Executive Board, is quoted as saying. In return, Novartis can better focus on its core business.

    GETEC belongs to the GETEC Group, which is based in Magdeburg in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The group is also active in the Netherlands and Italy. In Switzerland, it also operates the 50-hectare industrial site in Muttenz.

    The Canton of Aargau’s location promotion department welcomes the change of ownership in the Sisslerfeld area, a strategic development focus for the canton: “The Sisslerfeld has great potential for high value-added businesses and thus for significantly more jobs,” says the head of location promotion, Verena Rohrer. “The transfer to GETEC enables us to jointly attract further, innovative companies to the greater Sisslerfeld area that can cooperate with each other.”

  • Basel Area reaches new milestone with settlement of LifeMine

    Basel Area reaches new milestone with settlement of LifeMine

    Basel Area Business & Innovation , the agency for location promotion and innovation promotion, has reached a new milestone. With LifeMine Therapeutics , the 200th company has now been supported in settling in the Basel area. The biotechnology company has its headquarters in Cambridge in the US state of Massachusetts and is now establishing its European headquarters in the Basel Area, which consists of the three cantons of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft and Jura.

    “Having LifeMine Therapeutics as our 200th customer is very exciting for our team and the region,” said Christof Klöpper, CEO of Basel Area Business & Innovation. “The fact that LifeMine Therapeutics comes from the Boston Area – one of the world’s largest life sciences centers – underscores the opportunities that the Basel Area offers international biotech companies.”

    LifeMine develops drugs based on genetically encoded small molecules and will now also drive this work from Basel. “We are very pleased to be able to expand our activities to Basel and settle in a region full of innovative companies,” says co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) WeiQing Zhou. “Basel Area Business & Innovation gave us fantastic support and made the process as smooth as we could have wished for.”

    Of the 200 companies supported by Basel Area since 2016, 164 are not from Switzerland. A total of 122 work in the life sciences. In the meantime, however, more and more companies from the production and process technology sectors are deciding to settle in the Basel area.

  • iCITY is intended to strengthen the Allschwil life sciences location

    iCITY is intended to strengthen the Allschwil life sciences location

    The life sciences location around Basel is to be further strengthened with a new office concept. Behind it is iCITY , an initiative and an ecosystem that wants to network start-ups, investors and researchers. This is to take place in the Alba House , which will be completed by the architects Herzog & de Meuron by 2023.

    The Alba House is being built on the BaseLink campus in Allschwil. The Swiss Innovation Park Basel Area , the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and the Innovation Office of the University of Basel are also located on the site. The house will offer flexible workplaces on a total area of almost 15,000 square meters. According to a press release, it is based on a compact design, circular economy, geothermal energy and photovoltaics.

    iCITY also operates a location for companies from the life sciences and biotech sectors in Reinach BL. There it offers, among other things, special laboratory and workspaces on an area of 10,000 square meters.

    iCITY has its roots in the Dutch family company Vebego . This has also implemented a similar concept for high-tech players in Eindhoven.

  • Securecell expands its headquarters in Urdorf

    Securecell expands its headquarters in Urdorf

    The headquarters of Securecell AG in Urdorf has been expanded. The biotech company has been based in the Luberzen industrial area since April 2019. At that time, the move to an area of 1800 square meters with around 30 employees took place. According to the media release , the company, which specializes in the development of automation solutions for bioprocesses, has since doubled the number of its employees and has therefore now enlarged its workspace. At the turn of the year, the ground floor at the company headquarters became vacant. According to the press release, Securecell AG was able to move into an additional 2,000 square meters of office and production space at the end of 2021.

    When moving into the 1st floor in 2019, modern offices, a research laboratory and a clean room for medical technology development as well as a production facility for small devices with an attached warehouse and workshop were set up. The newly added work area on the ground floor is perfectly tailored to Securecell’s needs and could be used immediately without much effort, according to the press release.

    The previous tenant equipped the rooms with modern office workplaces and meeting rooms, an ESD-protected workshop suitable for electronics and production, and a large warehouse. ESD means protection against electrical discharges. In addition, the floor offers access to the loading dock and a spacious kitchen.

    Securecell is a member of Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zürich .

  • Another location for start-ups is being created in the greater Zurich area

    Another location for start-ups is being created in the greater Zurich area

    As a first step, Elektron AG is making around 1,100 square meters available to the Wädenswil start-up organization grow . Two fast-growing life science start-ups will move in there: Araris Biotech AG , a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich ( ETH ) and the Paul Scherrer Institute ( PSI ), and Nemis Technologies AG . This is already a fourth location for ambitious young companies in the local area of Wädenswil.

    The technology company Elektron will finance the conversion to laboratory and office space. “The cooperation with grow fits perfectly with our philosophy of combining modern technologies and sustainability,” Elektron CEO Enrico Baumann is quoted as saying in a statement from grow. “For us, the settlement of the two start-ups is an investment in the future and a commitment to the Wädenswil workplace.”

    Araris Biotech is researching novel anti-cancer antibody compounds. Nemis develops diagnostic solutions to detect pathogenic bacteria in food. Both have completed successful financing rounds. Araris was able to earn over 15 million francs in October 2020, Nemis only recently 7.75 million francs.

    “In the past five years, growth has accelerated significantly,” says Wädenswil Mayor Philipp Kutter. He is also a member of the board of trustees of grow. Despite the corona pandemic, there are signs of further growth, “which is extremely positive for research and business in and around Wädenswil”.

  • SHL Medical is building a sustainable new location

    SHL Medical is building a sustainable new location

    SHL Medical invests in a new location on the Tech Cluster Zug . This will consist of a 10,500 square meter production area and a 5,000 square meter office space. The manufacturer of injection systems plans to employ around 400 people there.

    Several architectural offices have developed concepts for the new location as part of a competition. The project by the architects Penzel Valier AG has now prevailed, according to a media release . In addition to SHL Medical, the jury also included the city of Zug, Metall Zug and experts from various disciplines.

    The project by the architects Penzel Valier relies on the use of wood as the main alternative material. The energy is supplied via a building-integrated solar energy system. Sea water is used for heating and cooling. The excess heat and energy is recovered for further use. Overall, according to the information, this enables zero CO2 emissions production.

    According to the announcement, the building application is planned for the end of 2021. Because the SHL Group is aiming for continuous growth in the coming years, the expansion of the location is planned in two construction phases and in four expansion stages. The commissioning of the four expansion stages is to take place in several stages.

    "The building architecture should provide an environment that optimally supports the activities of our employees and operations," Ulrich Faessler, CEO SHL Medical, is quoted in a separate press release. "As we at SHL are striving for continuous growth and in order to consolidate our pioneering role within the industry, we will further strengthen our global presence and our activities through global production," he adds.

    SHL Medical relocated its headquarters to Zug in Switzerland in 2018. One of his goals was to further strengthen the global partnership with his pharmaceutical customers. In addition to Switzerland, SHL Medical also has locations in Taiwan, Sweden and the USA.

    The Tech Cluster Zug is being built on the headquarters of V-ZUG AG in the city of Zug. V-ZUG wants to concentrate its production in the north of the area. Industrial companies, technology-related services, start-ups as well as research and educational institutions are to be located on the remaining parts of the area.

  • Novartis is developing the site into a life science park

    Novartis is developing the site into a life science park

    The biotechnology and pharmaceutical company Novartis has announced plans to open its production site in Stein and locate more life science companies there. According to a press release, the Rheintal Life Science Park is to be built there.

    "Switzerland is an important location for our production network," is how Steffen Lang, head of Novartis Technical Operations and member of the group management, is quoted. Investments of more than CHF 200 million in 2020 and 2021 at the Stein and Schweizerhalle locations confirmed Novartis' commitment to the region. "With the further development of the Stein location into the Rheintal Life Science Park, we are sending a positive signal for Switzerland as an industrial center and the Aargau region."

    The location offers an ideal environment, access to highly qualified employees from the region and state-of-the-art facilities, for example for the production of cell and gene therapies.

    The Novartis plans are also approved by the cantonal location promotion agency Aargau Services . After all, according to its director Annelise Alig Anderhalden, “the whole Sisslerfeld” is an “important place of work and a focus of development for the canton. The area has great potential for businesses with high added value. "