Switzerland is an important research location for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The number of Nobel prizes awarded to chemists, biologists and physicians attest the internationally outstanding quality of research in Switzerland.

Expenditures on research by the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland in 2008 amounted to 5.3 billion CHF, corresponding to 44 % of total private research spending in the Swiss industry. Measured as research expenditures per employee the Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical industry is at the top of the sector world-wide.