WuXi Executive Breakfast in Basel: The Most Important Innovation in Drug R&D May Be How the Industry Works Together

One of the defining challenges in healthcare today is not a lack of scientific ideas. In many ways, the opposite is true. The greater challenge now is translating those advances into therapies with the speed and quality patients urgently need.

That theme shaped the discussions at the WuXi Executive Breakfast in Basel, held alongside Swiss Biotech Day and attended by nearly 100 leaders from biotech, pharma, venture capital, and the broader healthcare ecosystem.

▲From left to right: Dr. Cédric Sager, CEO of Debiopharm Research & Manufacturing; Mr. Thorsten Hein, Country Division Head of Bayer Pharma Switzerland; Dr. Frank Zenke, CSO of FoRx Therapeutics; Dr. Michael Altorfer, CEO of the Swiss Biotech Association; Dr. Hui Cai, VP of WuXi AppTec and event moderator

Throughout the morning, speakers returned — often from very different perspectives — to a remarkably similar conclusion: scientific innovation alone is no longer enough. Increasingly, progress depends on how effectively discovery, development, manufacturing, and global expertise can work together as an integrated system.

In many ways, the conversation reflected the broader spirit of this year’s Swiss Biotech Day theme — The Power of International Collaboration.

▲From left to right: Mr. Vikalp Mohan, Vice President at WuXi Chemistry; Dr. Hui Cai, Vice President, WuXi AppTec; Dr. Dave Madge, Vice President at WuXi Biology; Dr. Thomas Meins, Managing Director at Crelux, a WuXi AppTec company

Speed Matters Because Patients Are Waiting

For emerging biotech companies, time remains one of the most precious resources.

Dr. Frank Zenke, CSO of FoRx Therapeutics based in Switzerland, which recently announced a $50 million Series A financing, shared how the company advanced a small molecule inhibitor from assay development into an IND-approved program and Phase 1 trial within roughly 18 months. “We successfully developed a preclinical assay, prepared the IND, and worked on the CMC with the help of WuXi AppTec,” he said. For him, the ability to move quickly depends on how effectively expertise and execution capabilities can align around a common goal.

Innovation itself is also becoming more sophisticated.

Dr. Cédric Sager, CEO of Debiopharm Research & Manufacturing, described how emerging modalities such as ADCs and radioligand therapies are reshaping development requirements across the industry. These therapies increasingly rely on highly specialized capabilities spanning linker chemistry, peptide technologies, advanced manufacturing, and coordinated supply systems.

“We are experts in some areas,” he noted, “but we need others to help us move forward.” As science advances into new frontiers, development ecosystems must evolve alongside it.

Collaboration Is Becoming Infrastructure

Mr. Thorsten Hein, Country Division Head of Bayer Pharma Switzerland, emphasized the importance of building stronger bridges across the upstream and downstream parts of the industry value chain, as well as across countries and regions, to help innovation reach patients efficiently and reliably.

With both patient needs and healthcare innovation becoming inherently global, he said, “It’s about building bridges between Europe, Asia, and the U.S., so we can work together more closely and effectively.”

That spirit of connectivity was central to the atmosphere of Swiss Biotech Day itself.

Dr. Michael Altorfer, CEO of the Swiss Biotech Association, reflected on the importance of creating environments where trust and relationships can develop naturally across the global biotech community. “Our relationship with WuXi dates back many, many years,” he said. Conferences like Swiss Biotech Day with 3600 delegates and 50% from outside Switzerland, he noted, help innovators, scientists, investors, and partners connect in ways that can ultimately accelerate progress for patients.

In modern drug development, collaboration is no longer simply supportive to innovation. Increasingly, it is becoming part of the infrastructure that makes innovation possible.

Integration as an Enabler of Innovation

As scientific programs become more complex — spanning next-generation small molecules, peptides, oligonucleotides, conjugates, and other emerging modalities — many conversations naturally turned toward the importance of integrated execution.

Within that context, WuXi AppTec’s integrated CRDMO platform was discussed as one approach designed to help innovators move more seamlessly across traditionally fragmented stages of development by connecting discovery, development, and manufacturing through coordinated teams and technology platforms.

Examples shared during the breakfast illustrated how integrated approaches can help reduce operational complexity while supporting speed, quality, and scientific rigor simultaneously — from accelerating synthesis and formulation timelines for complex molecules to supporting the first FDA-approved Proteolysis-Targeting Chiemera drug – helping a client advancing a preclinical candidate within 13 months versus the industry average of 24 months with integrated support from chemistry, biology, testing, scale-up, and GMP clinical material manufacturing. WuXi AppTec’s CRDMO platform provided end-to-end support for this program, from rapid development and scale-up to the manufacturing of GMP materials for clinical trials.

The discussion also further underscored the significance of WuXi AppTec’s continued expansion of its global capabilities and regional footprint. To meet global customers’ needs for R&D efficiency, capacity flexibility, and localized support, WuXi AppTec is accelerating the build-out of its capabilities and capacity.

In Europe, WuXi AppTec's sites in Munich, Germany and in Couvet, Switzerland continue to support customers in Europe and around the world, from early-stage R&D to high-quality drug product manufacturing.

Last year, WuXi AppTec announced plans to establish its European headquarters in Munich to better support customers across Europe. Being closer to partners in Europe, North America, and Asia means more timely communication, smoother collaboration, and more efficient project execution, providing stronger support for global innovation.

What the Breakfast Ultimately Reflected

By the end of the session, one thing had become increasingly clear: the future of drug development will not be defined solely by scientific breakthroughs themselves, but by how effectively the global R&D ecosystem can coordinate around those breakthroughs.

Swiss Biotech Day’s largest and most international gathering to date reflected the growing recognition that healthcare progress is increasingly a collective effort.

And perhaps that was the most important insight from the morning:

The most important innovation in drug R&D today may be how effectively the industry learns to work together to bring innovation to patients around the world.