The Allschwil BaseLink Area is about to become an important life sciences and innovation hub. Before the end of the year, both the Swiss TPH (Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute) and isolators and cleanroom facilities pioneers SKAN AG will move into their respective new headquarters in the Bachgraben area. The future neighbours already strengthen their cooperation in the field of global health.
In the Allschwil BaseLink Area, construction works are going on under high pressure. On a space covering 50,000 m2, 6,000 new jobs are created in the fields of life science and innovation. SKAN AG and the Swiss TPH will move into their new HQ buildings in summer 2021 and the end of the year, respectively. Both organisations will considerably boost the attractiveness of the Allschwil location. “We are really looking forward to moving into our new building in Allschwil, and also to meeting our new neighbours who work in the fields of biotechnology, research, and engineering”, said Swiss TPH director Jürg Utzinger. “The new partnerships will be driving innovation in the global health sector”.
The Swiss TPH and SKAN, the world leader in developing and constructing isolators for the pharmaceutical industry whose isolators are used for filling one third of the vaccines worldwide, have already started their cooperation even before moving into their new headquarters. The Swiss TPH links research, education, and services in the global health sector. Promoting health and protecting lives are common values that lead to the idea of using the close neighbourhood for a deeper exchange.
SKAN and the Swiss TPH want to benefit from the mutual knowledge transfer and jointly tackle global health-related challenges. They discuss not only practical matters such as employee catering or relocation experiences, but also core activities. This includes topics like regulations, occupational safety, laboratory automation, digitalization, new products development, as well as mutual advice and training.
SKAN CEO Thomas Huber is looking forward to cooperating with the Swiss TPH: “For both SKAN and the Swiss TPH, the collaboration holds exciting opportunities. I am quite optimistic that both of us and our work will benefit from a continuous exchange after moving into our new headquarters. We are looking forward to having a good neighbourly relationship”.
First aspects of the cooperation are already being implemented. SKAN employees seek pre-travel health consultation at the Swiss TPH and have themselves tested for SARS-CoV-2 to be able to do their necessary business trips. On top of that, SKAN supports the laboratory operation of two Swiss TPH projects: The DAVINCI project develops a new saliva-based corona rapid test that allows for easy and reliable covid diagnostics. The NIIDS project develops innovative approaches for molecular, serological, and sensor-based diagnostics that is to be used an validated in Africa.
