A delegation of around fifty international life sciences specialists visited BioArk in Monthey on 24 April. It was an opportunity to get to know the Valais ecosystem in this field, with presentations by Valais start-ups and a conference by the Idiap research institute on artificial intelligence. The visit to the Valais was organised as part of Swiss Biotech Day, one of the biggest life sciences events in Switzerland.
The delegation visiting Monthey was part of the “Global Village” initiative, organised by the Swiss Biotech Association and Switzerland Global Enterprise. The delegation came from Brazil, the United States, South Korea, the Netherlands, India, Germany, the UK and Canada. Most of them were company directors.
Six innovative start-ups on stage
After welcoming the participants from the Swiss Biotech Association and Switzerland Global Enterprise, Romy Veya, from the Valais Canton Department of Economy, Tourism and Innovation, presented the optimal framework conditions offered by the Valais to support the development of life sciences projects. Massimo Nobile, BioArk site manager, then presented the community affiliated to BioArk, from Visp to Monthey, including all the other regions of the canton. He emphasised the modularity and flexibility of the Valais life sciences infrastructure.
Several start-ups then presented themselves. They included Orio Therapeutics, Immunskills, Novochizol, REM Analytics, Yoni Solutions and Ceidos. Others, such as Curio Biotech (Visp) and Swiss Biotech Center (Monthey), were present in the audience. These short presentations demonstrated the dynamism of the canton of Valais and certainly aroused the interest of the delegation. They also showed how the Valais ecosystem was able to work together to develop different businesses.
A presentation on artificial intelligence
The session ended with a presentation by the Idiap research institute, represented by Joël Dumoulin and two members of Raphaëlle Luisier’s research group, which specialises in the application of artificial intelligence to health and biotechnology. The delegation then visited part of the BioArk infrastructure.
After Basel and Monthey, the international delegation hit the road again to discover the Lausanne region. For Monthey and the Valais, the visit was an opportunity to underline the importance of the region for the life sciences and the opportunities offered to national and international projects to find fertile ground for their development here.
Further information on the Swiss Biotech Day Global Village: https://www.swissbiotech.org/global-village
View some photos of the event: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thearkvalais/albums/72177720316454816/
