MSD calls for a future ready Swiss healthcare industry at the 2026 Trendtage Gesundheit Luzern
26.03.2026 09:08 CET
MSD calls for a future ready Swiss healthcare industry at the 2026 Trendtage Gesundheit Luzern
Lucerne, March 26 — MSD Switzerland, a leading biopharmaceutical company, called for a consistent, integrated approach to economic development and medical care at the health industry conference Trendtage Gesundheit Luzern (TGL), stressing that only by thinking both together can a sustainable vision for the future emerge.
«In uncertain times, it is crucial to keep the bigger picture in mind and avoid thinking in silos. Health and the economy belong together and require a shared vision for the future – and that is something we must work on collectively», said Dr. Gila Stump, Head of External Affairs and Market Access at MSD Switzerland.
Under this year’s TGL theme, “Boundlessness: drawing – shifting – overcoming boundaries,” Dr. Stump joined Bernhard Bichsel (Co CEO ISS AG) and Diego Taboada (Avenir Suisse) on the panel “The Swiss healthcare industry in turbulent times” at the Lucerne Culture and Convention Centre. The discussion focused on Switzerland’s attractiveness as a location and on ensuring reliable patient access.
«The TGL is an important health policy platform because it brings together decision makers from medicine, science, business and politics», Stump said. «This kind of interdisciplinary exchange is essential when addressing challenges in healthcare, location attractiveness, security of supply and access to innovation. Solutions can only emerge when all relevant perspectives are represented at the table and meaningfully connected.»
MSD has been a long standing partner of the TGL and contributes to the ongoing development of the event’s content, including through its participation on the Advisory Board.
Short interview
Below are three questions addressed to Dr. Stump, expanding on and contextualizing key points raised during the panel discussion.
Question 1: Dr. Stump, in your view, what is the most urgent lever to safeguard the attractiveness of Switzerland as a location for the healthcare industry in turbulent times?
There are, of course, many factors that contribute to location attractiveness. One particularly powerful lever is reliable and rapid patient access to innovation – a hallmark of an innovation‑friendly country that also strengthens population health. Switzerland continues to fall behind in access to new, innovative medicines compared to other European countries and currently relies largely on a special provision, Articles 71a et seq. of the Health Insurance Ordinance (HIO), which allows access to innovative medicines that have not yet been approved by Swissmedic or reimbursed via the Specialties List.
Despite this special mechanism, Switzerland slipped to seventh place by 2024 in the annual survey conducted by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). The indicator measures how many centrally authorized medicines are available to patients and how long it takes from authorization to public reimbursement and availability.
Particularly alarming is the fact that in Switzerland only about half as many new, innovative medicines are regularly reimbursed via the Specialties List – and thus covered by health insurers – as in Germany, with a downward trend.
If we want to secure sustainable access to the most innovative medicines in Switzerland, we need a clear focus on predictability and speed in access processes, as well as a strong commitment to the value of innovation. Today, Switzerland invests a significantly smaller share of its gross domestic product in innovative medicines than many other countries.
Question 2: What are the main obstacles to developing a shared future vision for improved medical care?
Our overarching goal is clear: innovative medicines and vaccines must reach patients reliably and quickly. Two steps are critical to achieving this: regulatory approval and reimbursement.
Regarding the regulatory approval process, Swissmedic has made noticeable progress in recent years. Regulatory procedures are now far more predictable and overall more efficient.
The second hurdle lies in the reimbursement process at the Federal Office of Public Health. This process is increasingly protracted. Innovative therapies are not infrequently excluded from reimbursement, even when recommended in clinical guidelines, which significantly restricts patient access.
I understand the need for cost control and financial sustainability. At the same time, such measures must not disproportionately hinder access to new treatments – especially not in a country that has historically stood for an innovation‑friendly healthcare sector, from which it also benefits economically above average and which will continue to depend on innovation in the future. The challenges are growing: demographic change, increasing disease burden among younger adults, and tightening resources in the healthcare system, particularly due to workforce shortages. Even more reason why we must avoid silo thinking and instead consider health, the economy and public finances together. Innovation is not only medically relevant, but also a driver of prosperity: it strengthens the research and education landscape through clinical trials, generates investment, jobs, wages and tax revenues, and thus contributes to overall system stability. Unfortunately, this perspective is largely missing from the current revision of the Health Insurance Ordinance under public consultation.
Question 3: How can MSD contribute to the digitalization of the Swiss healthcare system, and why is this crucial for the country’s future?
Digitalization is essential if Switzerland is to maintain its high quality of care over the long term while becoming more efficient – particularly because many systems currently run in parallel and are insufficiently interconnected. This fragmentation slows improvements in care delivery and ties up resources that are urgently needed given rising demands.
MSD – and I personally – believe that the pharmaceutical industry has an important role to play as a partner in this area. Together with the federal government, cantons, healthcare providers, insurers, industry and technology partners, we want to help shape a more connected and efficient healthcare system – one in which digital solutions deliver measurable benefits for patients, simplify processes and enable more targeted use of resources.
At the same time, we hope that the national DigiSanté program will now achieve tangible progress. The Federal Office of Public Health has set the course; what is needed now are consistent next steps in implementation.
A central building block in this effort is the electronic health dossier, including a centrally provided technical infrastructure and the removal of barriers to its uptake and use. This is also crucial because such digital platforms are key to clinical research and help ensure that Switzerland remains internationally competitive and does not lose its attractiveness as a location for clinical trials.
MSD Merck Sharp & Dohme in Switzerland
In Switzerland, MSD Merck Sharp & Dohme employs over 1,000 people at five sites in the cantons of Lucerne and Zurich. At the site in Zurich, in “The Circle”, MSD operates a global innovation and development hub. The main therapeutic areas of MSD are oncology, infectious diseases, and cardiometabolic diseases. We also have a broad portfolio of vaccines for the prevention of diseases in children, adolescents, and adults. At our site in Schachen, we manufacture medicines for global clinical trials and operate a forensic laboratory. In addition, MSD conducts almost 50 clinical trials annually in Switzerland alone. We take our responsibility to the local community seriously and have been involved for years in, among other things, the «Trendtage Gesundheit Luzern» and the «Alliance Health competence». In 2025, MSD received the «Top Employer Switzerland» award for the thirteenth time in a row.
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CH-NON-03304, 03/2026