Cytori Therapeutics, a provider of innovative, regenerative medicine-based products directed toward serving unmet medical needs, has established its European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) sales headquarters in Switzerland, reports Mario Brossi, North American senior advisor to Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion. Located in Zug, the new headquarters will also serve as the base for the Cytori Exchange educational program held at participating clinics in the company’s EMEA service area, Brossi says.
Eric Daniels, managing director of Cytori GmbH, said that staffing at the new facility will reach approximately six by year-end 2011 and will consist of transferred and local hires. “A key initiative is ramping up the Cytori Exchange series of live surgery seminars and workshops focused on regenerative medicine and aesthetics,” he states. “Our goal is to extend this program globally from its EMEA origins.”
Commenting on the Swiss location, Daniels says that it was selected for Cytori’s EMEA headquarters after evaluating sites in the UK and the Netherlands. “Key site selection factors included a central location in Europe, a talented labor pool and the strong medical and biotechnology resources found in the Zug region,” he says. Other factors include political stability, strong IP protection laws and an excellent lifestyle.
Brossi notes that Cytori’s decision to locate in Switzerland adds to the country’s position as a center of medical technology. “The latest count shows some 1,400 companies as active in this sector, with 10,000 different product families,” he explains. “Implants lead the way in the fields of orthopedics, traumatology and dentistry. Almost 48,000 jobs are generated by the industry in Switzerland, accounting for roughly 10% of the European total.”