The HES-SO Valais-Wallis will supply the Lonza with …

Until today, relations between the State of Valais and Lonza were marked by the mercury cases. “The emotional debates that took place mainly in the French-speaking part of the canton are the fruit of 130 years of industrial history. There is now a desire to solve the problems, “comments Christophe Darbellay, head of the economy and training department. The page is therefore turned.

Since Tuesday, mammal cells and biotechnology have taken over. The Haut-Valais company has indeed signed a ten-year partnership with the HES-SO Valais-Wallis, aiming to make the canton a pole of global importance in this specific area of ​​life technologies. Engagement that is part of the Ibex project of the Viégeoise company, by which it wishes to reposition itself as a biotechnology leader thanks to an investment of one billion francs in Visp.

This agreement will allow us to create a complete value chain from training to industrialization, including research.

Christophe Darbellay, head of the Department of Economy and Training

Merging of skills

The Haute École d’Étechnique Valaisanne (HEI) is the only one to offer, in French-speaking Switzerland, a sector dedicated to life technologies. La Lonza has expertise in industrial systems. The union of the two will give birth to the Advanced Biomanufacturing Lab, dedicated to biotechnology. Biotechno .. what? “They consist in modifying cells to obtain complex active principles, useful for new drugs”, popularizes Gaëtan Cherix, director of the HEI.

In concrete terms, the two partners will co-finance, at the level of 500,000 to 1 million francs per year, one or two professorships responsible for setting up research projects with the support of Lonza employees. The HES will draw this amount from its annual operating budget. The approach is similar to that which was undertaken in 2018 with Constellium, as part of the Smart Process Lab, to develop innovative solutions in the fields of digitization and industrial processes.

1

million francs

The approximate annual investment of HES-SO and Lonza to finance research projects

“Normally, our teachers must look for industrial partners and manage to find funds at the federal or European level”, describes Gaëtan Cherix. From now on, they will have vital forces at their disposal within the pharmaceutical company. They will only have to convince organizations wishing to invest in their project.

“This will allow us to create a complete value chain from training to industrialization, including research,” says Christophe Darbellay.

Read also : With Constellium and HES-SO Valais, the first industrial laboratory in the canton is born

Meeting market needs

With the Ibex project, nearly a thousand new jobs are at stake. “The Valais is not only a canton of tourism, but also of industry. These jobs are also created for the Valais people, “notes Renzo Ciccilini, director of the Lonza site in Visp.

The catch is that currently talented biotechnologists are most often trained outside the canton or abroad … and tend to stay there. Because competition in the field is becoming increasingly fierce. Also on Tuesday, the Merck company kickstarted a development and experimental production center dedicated to biotech ’in Corsier-sur-Vevey and sold for 270 million francs.

The Valais is not only a canton of tourism, but also of industry.

Renzo Ciccilini, director of the Lonza site in Visp

“Our mission is to meet the needs of the Valais socio-economic fabric first, then French and Swiss,” confirms François Seppey. “Sion is halfway between Visp and Vevey. Our message to engineers is that they can come and study on our campus and find work in Valais or on the Lake Geneva. “

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