Launch of Swiss Medtech Ticino

In his opening speech, Raffaele De Rosa, State Councillor and Director of the Department of Health and Social Affairs, emphasised how important the launch of Swiss Medtech Ticino is for the canton’s healthcare sector. It will unite a wide range of competences and know-how from the hospitals as well as the healthcare and medical technology industries – all of whom are working towards the same goals. Cristina Maderni, Vice-President of the Ticino Chamber of Commerce, warmly welcomed Swiss Medtech to the network of professional associations affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce.

Ticino has much to offer – and not only as a tourist destination with diverse cultural offerings. The canton is increasingly positioning itself as a centre for innovation thanks to its USI university and its SUPSI university of applied sciences, a dynamic start-up scene, and numerous leading companies with strong international orientation. Among the economic sectors showing considerable growth is the life sciences sector, which also includes strongly export-oriented medical technology companies. Over the past ten years, the value added per employee in the life sciences sector has risen by approximately 17% – well above the Swiss average. 

The medtech cluster in Ticino is made up of around 150 companies and academic institutions. Traditionally, the canton has also been leader in the areas of endoprosthetics and traumatology. More recently, the canton has expanded its scope of first-class and globally recognised expertise into other areas such as artificial intelligence (AI). This development is also expected to generate highly promising collaborations with the digitally driven medtech sector. 

Of the 150 medical technology companies in Ticino, only around twenty are members of Swiss Medtech, the national industry association. The Ticino medtech companies and Swiss Medtech intend to collaborate more closely in order to better promote the special interests and strengths of Italian-speaking Switzerland. The Ticino Chamber of Commerce will play a central role in this. «We are very pleased to have found an ideal partner in the Ticino Chamber of Commerce which has indispensable local networks in business, government, and regional companies, and will assume this leading role under Swiss Medtech Ticino’s mandate,» says Peter Biedermann, Director of Swiss Medtech. The secretariat will be supported by an advisory board comprised of prominent figures from the Ticino medtech industry. The committee is chaired by Dr Giuseppe Perale, co-founder of a high-tech company focused on regenerative medicine. Perale is convinced that «Ticino has much to offer the national stage in terms of university and industrial medtech expertise and conversely, as members of Swiss Medtech, Ticino's companies will be able to strengthen their own voice and presence».