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The Swiss biotech industry has maintained a solid growth in 2008. It generated a turnover of more than CHF 8.7 billions, a 7% growth since 2007. 9 new biotech companies were created to reach a total of 229 biotech companies implemented in Switzerland.

Despite the economic turmoil, the global biotech industry has also maintained solid financial results in 2008. Yet biotech companies will have to show creativity in the future in order to face new challenges and garner new financing for their activities.

This BioFirst, organized in collaboration with Merck Serono and Ernst & Young, will explore the future trends of the biotech industry in the context of the global crisis and their implications in the Swiss economy.


Welcome speech by Dr. Jörn-Peter Halle, Vice President Early Stage Licensing, Portfolio Development Merck Serono

Martin Velasco is an entrepreneur with extensive experience in the IT, medical and biotech areas. He is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Anecova (WEF Technology Pioneer 2008), Chairman of AC Immune (WEF Technology Pioneer 2009), Founder and Chairman of StemLifeLine, Board Director of NovImmune, Founder and Board Director of Sumerian, Founder and Chairman of Speedlingua. Martin Velasco is also member of the Board and Executive Committee of BlueOrchard, the leading private microfinance investment advisory company and member of the Board of the Foundation EPFL+. He has an Engineering Degree in electronics and a postgraduate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and a MBA from Insead.

Chief Financial Officer, joined Nitec in September 2007. Prior to that, he had worked since 2000 at the Geneva-based biotech company Serono (now part of the Merck KGaA Group), initially as Vice President Corporate Finance and later as Vice President Corporate Development within Business Development. Between 1992 and 2000, Mr. Buscaglia worked as an investment banker with S.G.Warburg (now UBS AG), Deutsche Bank and Citigroup in London and Milan. Between 1988 and 1992, he was an auditor with the Italian office of Arthur Andersen & Co. Mr. Buscaglia graduated from the Bocconi University in Milan/Italy in 1987 with a degree in Business Administration. Mr. Buscaglia is an Italian national and resident in Switzerland.

Roel Bulthuis is Head of Merck Serono Ventures, the strategic venture capital group of Merck Serono. Through the ventures group, Merck Serono is committed to actively invest in emerging biotech companies which have the potential to provide innovative products in Merck Serono’s core therapeutic areas, or access to innovative technologies. Previously, Roel was a Director in the Biotech Investment Banking Team at Fortis Bank, where he was responsible for the origination and execution of a wide range of financing and strategic transactions in the biotech sector based out of Amsterdam and New York. Roel holds a Msc. in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and an MBA in Finance from the Helsinki School of Economics, Finland.

Jörn-Peter Halle is heading Early Stage Licensing function at Merck Serono, which includes a Search & Evaluation function for all therapeutic areas and development stages and the negotiation of enabling technology and pre-clinical candidate deals. Previously Senior Licensing Manager for Merck KGaA he led several successful in-licensing projects and made significant contributions to acquisitions. Prior to joining Merck in 2005, he co-founded the biotech company Switch Biotech in 1997 where he held management positions with increasing responsibilities including the position of Chief Business Officer. He has a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Konstanz, Germany, did his post-doc in biochemistry at the Gene Center in Munich and worked as a freelance bioinformatics consultant.