How many medicines are authorised in Switzerland?
What is a marketing authorisation?
An authorisation is Swissmedic's official permission to place a specific medicine on the Swiss market. It is granted per product and carries an authorisation number. Different strengths of the same product run under the same number.
Swissmedic lists roughly 6,800 authorised human medicines in Switzerland, held by 334 authorisation holders. The great majority are synthetic products, followed by biotechnological products, homeopathic medicines and phytomedicines. Veterinary medicines and medical devices sit in separate registers and are not part of this figure.
The number of authorisations is not a measure of market value. A single biologic can out-earn a hundred generic authorisations. Anyone measuring market power has to use sales data and the Federal Office of Public Health's specialities list (SL), not a count of authorisation numbers.
| Product code | Authorisations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Synthetic products | 4,832 | 71 % |
| Biotechnological products | 538 | 8 % |
| Homeopathic medicines | 408 | 6 % |
| Phytomedicines | 356 | 5 % |
| Allergens (diagnostic and therapeutic) | 253 | 4 % |
| Vaccines, blood products, antivenins | 158 | 2 % |
| Others (radiopharmaceuticals, transplants, antidotes) | 224 | 3 % |
How concentrated is the market?
The Swiss authorisation market is heavily concentrated. The ten largest holders together account for roughly a third of all authorisations. Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, Mepha Pharma and Spirig HealthCare alone pass 1,000 authorisations between them, mostly generics and self-medication.
At the other end sit more than 150 companies with fewer than five authorisations each. They include complementary-medicine niche suppliers, parallel importers and representatives of foreign manufacturers that carry a single product in Switzerland.
- Top 3 holders: more than 1,000 authorisations between them, all generics or OTC focused
- Top 10: roughly a third of all authorisations
- More than 150 companies hold fewer than five authorisations
- 333 distinct company names appear as authorisation holder in the Swissmedic list
Where are the companies based?
Sites cluster in four regions. Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft form the largest cluster around Roche, Novartis and a dense supplier network. Zug and Zurich host the Swiss country organisations of international groups. The Lake Geneva region in Vaud and Geneva leans biotech and medtech, while Ticino is strong in generics, contract manufacturing and sterile production.
The role of tax-attractive cantons is striking: Zug carries a disproportionate share of country organisations and holdings, while actual manufacturing happens in Basel, Aargau, Solothurn, Valais (Visp) and Ticino.
| Region | Focus | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Basel (BS/BL) | Originators, research, generics | Roche, Novartis, Mepha, Bachem |
| Zug and Zurich | Country organisations, biotech | Sandoz, Novartis Pharma Schweiz, Molecular Partners |
| Lake Geneva (VD/GE) | Biotech, medtech, CDMO | Ferring, Debiopharm, Lausanne medtech cluster |
| Ticino (TI) | Generics, sterile production, CDMO | IBSA, Sintetica, Helsinn |
| Valais (VS) | Active-ingredient manufacturing | Lonza Visp |
| Eastern Switzerland (SG/TG/AR) | Phyto, OTC, wholesale | Max Zeller Söhne, Streuli, Hänseler |
What does this mean for market entrants?
For a foreign manufacturer this structure means two things. First, there is no free market access without a Swiss counterpart: an authorisation holder must be domiciled or represented in Switzerland. Second, the market is small enough that one experienced partner can carry several roles at once.
In practice most market entries combine three building blocks: a Swiss authorisation holder, an establishment licence for import and wholesale, and a logistics partner with a GDP warehouse. Reimbursement adds a fourth: a pricing dossier at the FOPH with a foreign price comparison and a therapeutic cross-comparison.
- Define the target segment and dispensing category, which drive advertising rights and sales channel
- Settle the Swiss authorisation holder: your own entity or an existing partner
- Arrange the establishment licence for import, wholesale and, where needed, batch release
- Build a pharmacovigilance system with a Swiss contact person
- For reimbursement: file the pricing dossier for the specialities list with the FOPH
Frequently asked questions
How many pharmaceutical companies are there in Switzerland?
334 companies are recorded with Swissmedic as authorisation holders for human medicines. Add medical technology, contract manufacturing, wholesale, contract research and regulatory consulting and the number of relevant life-science firms is considerably higher. This directory currently lists more than 400 companies.
Which is the largest pharmaceutical company in Switzerland?
By revenue and headcount it is Roche and Novartis, both headquartered in Basel. By number of Swissmedic authorisations, however, generics houses lead: Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, Mepha Pharma and Spirig HealthCare each hold more than 300 authorisations.
Do medical devices count towards these numbers?
No. Swissmedic does not list medical devices in the medicines authorisation list. Devices fall under the Medical Devices Ordinance (MedDO) and are captured through conformity assessment, notified bodies and the Swissdamed database, not through an authorisation number.
How current are these numbers?
The authorisation counts come from the Swissmedic list of authorised products as of September 2026. Swissmedic updates the list continuously; small differences of a few dozen authorisations between two updates are normal.