Launching a biotech is a daunting endeavor. Resources – both human and capital – are scarce and have to be fully dedicated to advancing science and building the company. Unfortunately, a significant amount of the initial capital, time and energy are often spent on setting up lab infrastructure. This includes negotiations with suppliers, wait times of months until equipment arrives, getting all the necessary permits, taking on the financial risk of signing long-term lease agreements, and much more.
For that reason, BaselArea.swiss, through the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area, has set up fully-equipped, permitted shared lab and office space, which takes care of all of the above.
Learn more about renting a lab in Switzerland
The lab rental package
The package includes ready-to-go labs where companies can rent one or more benches with access to shakers and incubators, fridges and freezers, autoclaves, ice machines, PCR and qPCR machines, various plate readers and imaging stations, HPLCs, rotavaps, chemical hoods, microscopes, cell culture facilities (up to BSL-2 safety levels), and much more. Also included are office desks, meeting rooms, printers, and internet access. The package comes with flexible and short-term rental contracts. And the best part is that there is a dedicated lab manager on site to take care of everything from equipment maintenance and the relevant permits to safety procedures, waste management, introductions to the various equipment, and more.
Open since 2018
The lab has been in operation since 2018; the first tenants took up work in May 2018. One of them is Skyhawk Therapeutics, a Boston-based company that initially opened up a small outpost in the Basel region.
Kathleen McCarthy, CSO Skyhawk Therapeutics: “Starting research operations in Europe was an easy decision as the fully-equipped lab infrastructure in the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area allowed us to do so very leanly at the beginning. And it provided us with a head start so we could focus entirely on the science from day one.” Things went so well that the company has been expanding rapidly in recent months. It has already outgrown the shared lab environment and is moving into its own labs in the Technologiepark Basel.
At the same time, Versameb and Polyneuron started with small teams in the shared labs. Both companies are supported by BaseLaunch which provided them with complimentary infrastructure access for one year.
Friedrich Metzger, CEO Versameb: “Setting up our research operations in the shared lab was crucial because we could start working on advancing science right away, producing more data, and expanding our technology platform. We didn’t have to spend time or money on establishing our own lab infrastructure.” Versameb and Polyneuron are growing rapidly and have just moved into their own labs which are also located in the Technologiepark Basel.
All a company needs to do is move in. With good timing, employees can start work on the very first day and focus completely on what is most important at the beginning, namely, generating data to further advance science and build the company.
Contact us
If you are interested in learning more about the lab space or start-up operations, please contact us. Or directly apply to BaseLaunch. Should you be selected, we can provide complimentary access to the lab.
