Swiss CDMOs and CROs ride a new wave of growth amid surge in global demand

Switzerland’s CDMO and CRO sector is undergoing a new boom cycle, underscored by surging demand for specialized manufacturing, human relevant preclinical models and increasingly complex modalities and clinical trials.

As global sponsors flock to the country’s science hubs for strong personnel, ingenuity and regulatory stability, Swiss service providers are taking measures to scale, differentiate and redefine modern drug development.

The country’s services sector recently grabbed headlines when Samsung Biologics published its formal tender offer for Swiss peptide CDMO PolyPeptide Group in a CHF 1.46 billion ($1.81 billion) all-cash bid. The move is thought to provide Samsung with a route into the thriving obesity and metabolic drug market, kickstarted by GLP-1s.

The news came on the heels of Swiss-owned Corden Pharma wrapping up its acquisition of AmbioPharm to enhance peptide production.

BioSpace spoke to experts who said, based on this heady environment, they expected further dealmaking in the future.

A robust demand for specialized CDMO services has stimulated the Swiss biotech economy, according to the EY Swiss Biotech Report.

 Switzerland plays an important role in the global manufacturing supply chain, particularly for high-end modalities, advanced therapies, peptides and biologics, said Michael Altorfer, CEO of the Swiss Biotech Association. This feature is one of many elements that enables Switzerland to be an attractive partner for international collaborations and to expand its talent pool.

The Basel region, which anchors one of the world’s most concentrated life-science clusters, has a vital role in sustaining that innovation pipeline through close collaboration between industry, academia, healthcare institutions and investors, said Hanns-Christian Mahler, CEO of Basel-headquartered CDMO ten23 health.

In terms of the global clinical trial ecosystem, “the country hosts approximately 1,200 active clinical trials at any given time, with CROs ranging from global players with Swiss operations to specialized boutique firms focusing on rare diseases, oncology, or medical devices,” noted the Val Index of Swiss commercial register and federal data.

The index also reported that about 45% of Swiss clinical trial services’ output is exported; Swiss CROs are conducting trials internationally, particularly in EU and U.S. markets. CROs BioSpace spoke to, such as abc biopply, echo the interest of global sponsors.

“Our client base is highly international, reflecting Switzerland’s position as a leading global life sciences hub,” said Arne Faisst, CEO and managing director, of abc biopply. “We collaborate with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic organizations across Europe and increasingly with partners in North America and other innovation-driven markets.”

In this nurturing environment, the Swiss regulatory framework, governed by Swissmedic and the Human Research Act (HRA), “provides a rigorous but efficient framework that attracts sponsors seeking high-quality data,” the index cited.

The current boon in CDMO consolidation can create larger platforms with broader capabilities and a greater scale, but it can also reinforce the importance of specialized, focused organizations, Mahler said. “Customers will continue to differentiate CDMOs based on scientific and technical expertise, quality, reliability, flexibility, speed and the ability to provide the right capabilities at the right stage of a program,” he said.

The activity surrounding CDMOs in the country is unsurprising as Switzerland continues to provide a strong environment for attracting, developing and retaining talent across the pharmaceutical and CDMO industries, Mahler said. “This is particularly important for activities where expertise, experience and specialized know-how are critical to success, rather than simply the availability of fixed manufacturing assets,” he said.

Although CDMOs skilled in peptides and GLP1-s are facing intense demand, sterile-product CDMOs will also have further growth driven by increasing client desire for a broad range of sterile dosage forms and modalities, Mahler added. “Many of these products ultimately require parenteral administration, such as injections or infusions, which in turn creates demand for specialized manufacturing capabilities and infrastructure.”

Galser, a CRO that exclusively conducts clinical trials in Switzerland, has seen increasing sponsor interest in trials in oncology and rare diseases, said Corporate and Business Director Mapril Da Silva, on the sidelines of Swiss Biotech Days in Basel earlier this year.

Cell and gene therapy (CGT) sponsors are among the strongest drivers for increasingly sophisticated human-relevant models, Faisst said. “As a result, we are seeing growing demand for integrated services that combine organoids, immune components, advanced imaging and translational biomarker analysis,” he explained.

CGT and complex modalities have pushed service providers to evolve how trials are designed, said Daphne Smyth, vice president of Global Regulatory Affairs at Veristat. “With CGT, there’s a much closer connection between the patient, the clinical trial and manufacturing, so flexibility and strong coordination are critical.”
A key trend among Swiss CROs is the use of decentralized trials, the Val Index reported.

“The move toward decentralized and hybrid clinical trials is fundamentally increasing the need for predictive, patient-relevant preclinical data before studies ever reach patients,” Faisst said. One of the biggest challenges in preclinical research is that increasing biological complexity often undercuts statistical power, reproducibility and scalability.

“This creates a preclinical complexity gap, where much of a model’s predictive value is lost before a drug candidate even reaches clinical development,” he said, noting as Europe’s first fully integrated organoid CRO, it aims to close that gap.

Veristat has moved toward a more flexible, hybrid model to make clinical trials more accessible and reduce the burden on patients and sites, Smyth said. “That has expanded our technology and service partnerships, while keeping quality and the patient experience at the center,” she said.

AI has also penetrated Swiss CRO dynamics.

“AI is becoming an important enabler of predictive biology, particularly when combined with advanced human-relevant models,” Faisst said. “At abc biopply, we are actively collaborating with AI-focused partners to connect cellular morphology and phenotypic patterns with biological behavior and treatment outcomes.”

Veristat is using AI and automation to help teams identify trends earlier, improve planning and reduce manual work, Smyth said. “AI can help reduce variability by standardizing processes and identifying risks earlier, ultimately improving quality, efficiency and predictability while keeping human oversight at the center,” she said.

In this heady environment, sources said they expected consolidation and dealmaking to continue.

“I would expect continued interest from foreign buyers in the Swiss market, given the strength of Switzerland’s life-sciences ecosystem, technical expertise, talent base and established manufacturing capabilities,” Mahler said. “Switzerland has a strong reputation internationally, so it is naturally attractive to companies looking to complement their existing capabilities or expand their geographic footprint.”