The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Janssen vaccine maker considers closing Bern factory

Janssen plant in Bern threatened with closure, 300 employees affected
Janssen plant in Bern threatened with closure, 300 employees affected Keystone-SDA

Vaccine developer Janssen is considering closing its factory in the Swiss capital Bern. On Tuesday it opened a consultation procedure with employees to find alternatives. Up to 300 employees could be affected by a plant closure.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The subsidiary of US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday that it was considering closing the Bern plant for two reasons. Firstly, a new vaccine designed to prevent colibacillus infections is not as effective as hoped.

Secondly, the production of lentiviral vectors will soon cease in Bern. The global company Johnson & Johnson is about to inaugurate a new, much larger plant in the Netherlands, according to a press release.

The factory that houses Janssen’s operations in Bern has a long history. It was founded in 1898 as the Swiss Institute of Serotherapy and Vaccination.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch

Popular Stories

News

Federal Council and Parliament campaign in favour of abolishing the imputed rental value

More

Swiss government backs abolishing imputed rental value

This content was published on The abolition of the imputed rental value in federal tax is intended to reduce incentives for high private debt and simplify the tax system. On Friday, Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter spoke on behalf of the Federal Council in favour of Parliament's proposal.

Read more: Swiss government backs abolishing imputed rental value
Swiss economy barely grows in the second quarter

More

Swiss economy stagnates in second quarter

This content was published on After a strong start to the year, the Swiss economy has slowed considerably. In the second quarter, gross domestic product (GDP) rose by just 0.1 per cent on an adjusted basis compared to the previous quarter.

Read more: Swiss economy stagnates in second quarter
One-and-a-half-year conditional prison sentence for priest in Ticino

More

Swiss priest found guilty of child sex abuse

This content was published on The Ticino cantonal criminal court in Lugano has found a priest guilty of multiple sexual assault and sexual offences with minors. The man was sentenced to a conditional 18-month prison term.

Read more: Swiss priest found guilty of child sex abuse

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR