Markus A. Ziegler

Interpharma is the association of research-based pharmaceutical companies in Switzerland and was founded in 1933 as an association based in Basel. Historically, Interpharma was an establishment of Switzerland’s big research-based pharmaceutical companies. With the opening-up over the last few years and the resulting sharp increase in membership to its present number of 24 research-based pharmaceutical companies, Interpharma has grown to become the umbrella association of research-based pharmaceutical companies in Switzerland. Member firms are Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Roche, AbbVie, Allergan, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Biogen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Lundbeck, Merck, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), Pfizer, Sanofi, Shire, Takeda, UCB and Vifor. Interpharma is committed to creating conditions conducive to innovation in both Switzerland and abroad so as to promote pharmaceutical research, development and production. It supports all efforts to create a social, economic and political environment that strengthens Switzerland as a centre of pharmaceutical research and production. Therefore, the association is an active partner in national health policy and fosters dialogue through its analyses, studies and other publications and events. Interpharma promotes a greater public understanding of new technologies and methods used in biomedical research and fosters the rigorous protection of intellectual property as an essential precondition for successful pharmaceutical research at the global and national level. It wants to help giving patients access to the latest medical advances as well as to safeguard and promote the development of professional and ethical standards in the research, development and marketing of pharmaceuticals.