KOTRA announced on the 6th that it hosted the "Korea-Switzerland Bio-Health Partnership" in Basel, Switzerland, on the 4th and 5th (local time), in cooperation with the city of Pohang, the Swiss Business Hub, the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, and local diplomatic missions.
The event was held in conjunction with the Swiss Biotech Day 2026 (SBD 2026), Europe's leading exhibition and conference in the bio-health sector, held in Basel. Fourteen K-bio companies operated a Korea Pavilion and conducted exhibition marketing-linked cooperation forums, B2B partnering consultations, and visits to local institutions.
Now in its 13th year, SBD is a specialized B2B exhibition and consultation event attended by about 3,000 participants from 49 countries, including roughly 600 Swiss biotech firms along with big pharma industry officials from companies such as Roche and investors. Basel is also a leading European bio hub, home to more than 700 biotech companies.
Through this project, KOTRA supported export marketing for the 14 companies participating in the Korea Pavilion and facilitated about 120 partnering, technology cooperation, and investment consultations with European firms. In particular, Cellexin, which is developing an IL-2-based immuno-oncology therapy in Phase 2 clinical trials that induces antigen-specific CD8 T cell proliferation, was selected as a promising startup at SBD 2026 and drew attention from European companies and investors.
At the Korea-Switzerland Bio-Health Partnership Forum, seven Korean companies delivered pitches. During the forum, Lonza, the world's largest contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), and Debiopharm, a Swiss global pharmaceutical company, shared their cooperation needs through open innovation, while Noul, a Korean AI diagnostic solution company that has entered the Swiss market, presented a success case of bilateral cooperation.
Switzerland is Korea's second-largest pharmaceutical export market after the United States. As of last year, Korea's second- through fourth-largest pharmaceutical export markets were all European countries, in the order of Switzerland ($1.3 billion), Hungary ($900 million), and the Netherlands ($800 million). Pharmaceutical exports to Europe surged nearly threefold in six years, from $1.8 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, to $5.3 billion last year. Exports to Switzerland in particular jumped more than tenfold, from $120 million to $1.28 billion.
KOTRA explained that "this rapid growth is the result of demand for pharmaceutical supply chain diversification following the pandemic and rising recognition of K-pharmaceuticals, added to Europe's existing demand for healthcare modernization."
Switzerland ranks first in Europe in per capita bio-sector patent applications, and pharmaceutical and biotech exports account for more than 40% of its total exports. The Korean government has also established the "Korea-Switzerland Joint Committee on Science and Technology" (with its 7th session in 2026) since 2009, strengthening cooperation in technology and research and development (R&D).
"As the government is fostering the pharmaceutical and biotech industry as a new growth export sector, Europe can serve as a forward base," KOTRA President Kang Kyung-sung said. "We will systematically support the globalization of K-bio-health companies by identifying local demand and cooperating with specialized institutions."
