Chemistry and pharmaceuticals

Bracco invests EUR 80 million in Switzerland and triples contrast media production

President and CEO Diana Bracco: 'The investment will enable us to meet the high international demand for our drugs. At the Geneva site we invest 12.5 million francs per year in research and development."

by Cristina Casadei

7 November 2024

5' min read

5' min read

"Switzerland has been a key element in the internationalisation of the Bracco group and it is here that we have just completed a second factory in Plan-les-Oautes (near Geneva, ed.), next to the historic factory established in 1997. It is called Hexagon and required an investment of over 80 million euros. Thanks to the new site, we will triple the production of an innovative ultrasound contrast agent, based on microbubbles, which allows real-time diagnosis. It is a modality that is increasingly used all over the world also because it is less invasive for patients and less costly for healthcare systems'.

Diana Bracco, president and ceo of the pharmaceutical chemicals group of the same name, is in Geneva where she inaugurated the new plant on which the pharmaceutical chemicals group, with a turnover in excess of EUR 1.8 billion and 3,800 employees, has high expectations. The entrepreneur, in our interview, reminds us that Switzerland and Bracco Suisse were the starting point of the group's internationalisation path. In everything, or almost everything, there is always a reason. In this case, the start in Switzerland was due to the Hapsburg origins of his father, Cavalier Fulvio Bracco, who knew German, a language whose study he also encouraged in his daughter Diana. After all, 'German is the language of chemistry when you think about it. With chemistry and pharmaceuticals you enter a field where there is this lingua franca that means a lot to the sector,' says Diana Bracco.

Le microbolle

Investments

The long duration of the research and the important size of the investment in life sciences means that 'our dividend is reinvested in the company, as shown by the new site in Geneva, where we have invested EUR 12.5 million per year in R&D over the last 10 years, but also the site in Torviscosa, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, where we have invested over EUR 30 million,' she recalls. In Switzerland, the Bracco group has developed the subject of echocontrast, the contrast medium for ultrasound, 'in an absolutely innovative way,' Bracco continues. 'Our Ceus contrast medium of microbubbles for ultrasound can also transport oncological drugs exactly where the diseased tissue is. It is therefore a product with a dual front, both diagnostic and therapeutic, and which allows an important step forward for personalised medicine'. The new site is among the most futuristic in the group, thanks also to the high technological and digital content that is present in both the qualitative and quantitative process control, as well as in the alerts.

Diana Bracco, Presidente e CEO del Gruppo Bracco e Fulvio Renoldi Bracco, Vicepresidente e CEO di Bracco Imaging

In addition to Diana Bracco and Fulvio Renoldi Bracco, Vice-President and CEO of Bracco Imaging, the inauguration was also attended by Anne Lévy, Director of the OFSP - Federal Office of Health, Xavier Magnin, Mayor of Plan-les-Ouates, Monika Schmutz Kirgöz, Ambassador of Switzerland to Italy, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, Ambassador of Italy to Switzerland, Alexandre Epalle, Director General of Economic Development of the Canton of Geneva, and Italian MP Simona Loizzo.

The Ceus platform

The Ceus platform is a highly sensitive, non-invasive, radiation-free diagnostic imaging modality that can improve visualisation and assessment of cardiac cavities, blood vessels and tissue vascularity. Microbubbles also have enormous potential in the field of precision medicine because they can act as drug vectors, triggering the transient opening of the tissue vascular barrier and thus improving the most targeted and precise therapeutic effect possible. 'Bracco has always been at the forefront of scientific progress because it has innovation in its DNA,' says Fulvio Renoldi Bracco. 'With this ambitious project, which allows us to triple and expand our production lines, Bracco is committed to becoming the company of reference in the Ceus world on a global level. We see the potential of this modality as complementary to X-rays, MRI and PET/SPECT procedures precisely to help healthcare systems be more efficient in patient care. Our microbubble platform is a state-of-the-art, easy-to-use medical technology that represents an added value for diagnostic imaging. It is an area in which we will continue to invest in the near future, on the strength of the results we have already achieved internationally'.

Stabilimento Bracco a Ginevra

The Scientific Symposium

The opening day of the new site in Geneva closed with a scientific symposium 'Bubble Power - Imaging & Beyond' led by Fabio Tedoldi, Head of Global Research & Development of Bracco Imaging, which was attended by Cristina Messa, Professor of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy at the University of Milan-Bicocca and former Minister of University and Research, Alberto Spinazzi, Senior Vice President, Chief Medical and Regulatory Officer of Bracco Imaging, as well as the Director of the Geneva Research Center, Thierry Bettinger, the Site Manager-Operations Director, Bracco Suisse SA, Vincent Letondal, and numerous international scientists, managers and specialists.

Stabilimento Hexagon a Ginevra

Group growth

The new investment in Switzerland comes at a time of continuous growth for the Bracco group, which closed 2023 with a turnover of €1.814 billion, up 1.7% compared to 2022, with prospects for further development. 2024 was a particularly important year for the future of the multinational, also marked by the birth of Bracco Japan, which came after "a long joint venture with Eisai. Japan is a very important market for us, partly because it has a high proportion of the population in advanced age, partly because there is a widespread culture of prevention supported by a very modern healthcare system, particularly in diagnostic imaging, and partly because it is the gateway to the Asia-Pacific area. That is why we wanted to have a direct presence there,' she says. The growth prospects are driven by the different areas where the multinational is present. Definitely growing is the United States "which is our first market. In percentage terms, the country that is growing the most is China, where revenues exceeded 190 million euros, or 13.8% more than in 2022. China is fundamental for us because it is the country where the means of contrast have been better understood and are more widespread,' says Bracco. 'As for Europe, with its fragmentation into 27 countries, it certainly has a good performance with revenues reaching 338 million, up 9.3%, while in the Rest of the World revenues are 142 million with very important results in Brazil, Mexico and South Korea.

Investments in research and development

Investment in research and development has played and will always play a major role in the group's growth. Considering imaging, they represent 10% of turnover. "The group's innovation is the result of internal research, but also of the ability to interact with multiple players, from universities to other companies, according to the concept of open innovation that is the basis of our development," Bracco explains. "The new investment we have made is a strong message for the country and the sector. It is a sign of our willingness to continue investing, even overcoming the fear and uncertainty that the geopolitical context generates. We are a family-owned multinational with a historic brand that is approaching 100 years of age and continues to invest both in Italy and abroad. We represent Made in Italy in a highly advanced sector'.

The challenge for the future

The group has almost 3,800 employees and continues to grow and hire: at the end of 2023 it had 3,786 people, it was 3,647 in 2022. "Right now," Bracco confides, "our challenge is to harmonise the people who have historically worked with us, with the young people who are joining the company, to whom we would like to transmit the spirit and culture of our company so that they can also be retained philosophically, so that they can share our vision.