Global biotech leader CSL Behring has been a close corporate partner of Biopôle SA’s since 2020. Now it plans to further strengthen its relationship with Romandy, and the Biopôle community in particular, by opening an R&D office on the Biopôle campus in Lausanne.

CSL Behring has a strong and thriving R&D presence in Switzerland and is continuously expanding its network across Switzerland and Europe. At the same time, the company has long-standing collaborations with renown Swiss academic institutions such as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and Lausanne University Hospital (the CHUV), as well as biotech incubators like Biopôle, and it’s continuously expanding its scientific network across Switzerland and Europe.

Biopôle first opened its doors to life sciences companies in 2009 and its campus on the shores of Lake Geneva has been steadily growing ever since. As of early 2023, it hosts over 130 companies and research organisations across eight buildings, with a further five in construction. Biopôle can offer its members office and lab space, with co-working, private and serviced options available – and the Biopôle SA team prides itself on finding bespoke solutions to meet the accommodation needs of newcomers and companies already on site.

As Biopôle’s corporate partner, CSL Behring already benefits from special access to Biopôle’s innovative community of life sciences start-ups. Pierre-Jean Wipff, Director of Innovation and Partnerships at Biopôle SA, is able to matchmake the company with carefully selected start-ups, making introductions and highlighting investment and scouting opportunities.

An office on Biopôle’s campus in Lausanne is the logical next step for CSL Behring. It will extend the long-standing corporate partnership, ensuring the company year-round access to the Biopôle community, with office space on site. The move will also enable CSL Behring to accommodate the needs of its employees. Post-pandemic, the biotech leader wants to facilitate more flexible working models. A substantial part of the company’s workforce lives in Western Switzerland, so a base at Biopôle in Lausanne is an excellent way to give its employees options for how and where to work.

Adrian W. Zuercher, CSL Behring’s Vice President, Head Research Europe and Global Head Plasma Protein Research, explains the rationale behind the decision: ‘With one of the highest densities of biotech organisations per capita in the world, Switzerland is an ideal place for us to develop our R&D presence. Biopôle is an epicentre of this thriving ecosystem – one of the liveliest biotech hubs in Switzerland – and its excellent talent pool offers us vast opportunities for collaboration.’

Biopôle SA’s Pierre-Jean Wipff explains what this step means for the Biopôle community: ‘CSL Behring is the first corporate partner to set up an office on our campus. Its presence on site will be of great benefit to our members. As well as potential investment, CSL Behring offers its partners access to infrastructure, knowledge and many years of experience along the drug-development-cycle. In return, it will profit from being fully integrated into our ecosystem, with unrivalled access to the networks and dynamic innovation on the Biopôle campus.’