Booming Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. Eyes European Headquarters In Zurich On Expansion Push

October 15, 2014

By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor

American biotech Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. may be moving its European headquarters to Zurich as it attempts to push into an increasingly competitive Swiss market, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The company said it had begun consulting its nearly 200 employees currently based in Lausanne and had contacted all relevant local authorities about transitioning to a new location.

Alexion’s current European base is Lausanne, but Alexion said in a statement that it want to take advantage of the Zurich region’s “dynamic life-science cluster.”

The company has its primary headquarters in Cheshire, Conn..

“Due to the current business forecasts the company wants to significantly expand its Swiss employee base in the coming years,” Alexion said in a statement.

Under the new plan, the majority of operations currently at the Lausanne location will be moved to Zurich, with the rest relocated to Connecticut and Dublin.

Earlier this year, fellow drugmaker Shire Plc said it would be transferring 220 of its employees from the Geneva area to a town outside of Zurich. The town, Zug, offers a competitive tax rate of only 15.38 percent, one of the lowest in Switzerland.