The continuing focus of the companies towards their core competencies has changed the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland with a lasting effect. The continuation of the strategy towards specialties not only geared the companies towards high-value products; it also induced an ongoing regrouping and restructuring of the companies and the industry as a whole. Out of diversified companies with a broad product offering arose a set of focused companies, active in very different markets with different products. This development is illustrated by showing as an example the restructuring which occurred in the chemical and pharmaceutical companies in Basle.

At the same time a new branch of companies has emerged in the past years: the biotechnology companies, existing beneath the branches of chemical and pharmaceutical companies. Biotechnology and genetic engineering is used as a basic technology in different areas of the industry. Besides the use of the technology in research and manufacturing a number of companies established themselves as pure biotech enterprises. Following a report of Ernst & Young (2003), the number of such companies active in Switzerland has tripled from 70 to 210 in the period from 1998 to 2003. These young companies - founded as start-ups by researchers out of the industry or universities - in the meantime employ approximately 11'000 people and create a turnover of 4.3 bn CHF. These companies constitute an economic factor of growing importance.