The pharmaceutical company MSD Merck Sharp & Dohme opened a global innovation and development hub at Zurich Airport’s The Circle in fall 2021. More than 250 international experts work there in a space spanning 4,300 square meters. MSD is the trade name of Merck & Co. Inc., headquartered in the USA, which Forbes states is the ninth biggest healthcare company in the world*. MSD develops solutions for human and veterinary medicine to prevent and treat illnesses, including cancer and infectious diseases like HIV and Ebola.
MSD established its first Swiss branch as early as 1963 in the Greater Zurich Area. Besides the hub in Zurich, it now has four other locations in the canton of Lucerne. In total, MSD employs over 1000 staff in Switzerland and in 2024, it received the Top Employer Switzerland award for the twelfth time in a row.
Greater Zurich hub acts as accelerator
The global interdisciplinary hub in Zurich is strategically significant to MSD. It aims to accelerate the development, data acquisition, and marketing of many of the company’s drugs and vaccines. MSD also concentrates on increasing its focus on data processing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning in general at its location in the Greater Zurich Area.
Laura Luchini, EMEA Regional Head of Global Clinical Trial Operations and person responsible for the R&D hub, explains that various teams throughout the product life cycle work at MSD in Zurich. She adds: “Specialists from the areas of research, data analysis, or even marketing are united under one roof and collaborate closely.” Luchini believes that The Circle is the perfect location, with its cutting-edge working infrastructure, its proximity to university talent pools, and the airport acting as an international focal point.
President of MSD Research Laboratories Dr. Dean Li commented as the hub opened its doors: “Zurich provides an exceptional academic and life sciences ecosystem. The new MSD Hub will be a unique place where teams from all over the world collaborate and innovate in pursuit of MSD’s mission to save and improve lives.”
*Forbes Global 2000: The World’s Largest Healthcare Companies in 2022
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