Agility and growth in a challenging market environment

The market environment became more positive from the second half of 2024 onwards. The reason for the slightly weaker first half of the year was a sharp increase in investments in new laboratory equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to low subsequent purchases. In contrast to the procurement of new laboratory equipment, business with consumables normalized and, thanks to its high production flexibility, INTEGRA Biosciences successfully mastered these fluctuations. “Our agile corporate structure and high level of flexibility in production have proven to be decisive strengths in this challenging market environment,” emphasized CEO Urs Hartmann.

In terms of global expansion, the company recorded strong growth with new sales branches in Australia, the BENELUX countries and Ireland. On the other hand, the Chinese market  showed a significant decline in demand for laboratory equipment, illustrating the different trends in the various markets.

Laboratory innovation and staff expansion strengthen development skills

A particular success in 2024 was the launch of the PIPETBOY GENIUS serological pipet controller, a globally unique serological pipetting aid. This innovation enables laboratories to aliquot liquids of the same volume faster and more precisely, resulting in more efficient workflows and a lower error rate.

In order to maintain this innovative strength in the future, INTEGRA Biosciences has further expanded its development departments: the company created 20 new jobs in 2024 and now employs 614 people worldwide, including 80 highly specialized development engineers and 21 apprentices. It also operates a new, modern biology laboratory at its Swiss headquarters in Zizers. “Our teams develop and test new product applications under real laboratory conditions directly for our customers and we are particularly proud of this,” explained Hartmann.

Inauguration of the new INTEGRA campus

INTEGRA Biosciences presented its new Swiss company campus to the public in summer 2024 with a 4-day open house event. The site, built to the Minergie standard, represents the company's forward-looking approach. Hartmann added: “State-of-the-art production lines and flexible workstations bring together employees from a wide range of functions under one roof and should continue to be an incentive to ensure the highest level of innovation.”

The in-house restaurant, La Pipetta, and the spacious terrace have already established themselves as popular meeting places for daily discussions. During the inauguration celebrations, the INTEGRA open-air cinema developed into a crowd-puller and made a name for itself as an insider tip in the region. The outside movie experience will therefore continue in 2025.

Further expansion of sustainability initiatives

The new INTEGRA campus in Zizers makes a significant contribution to the company's sustainability goals. The 3,000 m² photovoltaic system is proving to be an important milestone. The consumption of in-house generated PV has already tripled compared to the previous year – the amount generated corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of around 80 Swiss households. The optimization of transport routes was also a particular success; INTEGRA reduced intercompany air freight from Switzerland by almost 70 percent. Sustainability Officer Ursula Leuthold explained: “This significant reduction shows that we are on the right path to systematically reducing our environmental impact.”

Confident outlook for 2025

“We expect high single-digit growth in 2025, supported by 2 new product launches,” revealed Hartmann, looking optimistically to the future. While INTEGRA Biosciences continues to drive innovation, it is also implementing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system this year to replace the current IT system, which will support all future requirements and open up new possibilities in the field of artificial intelligence. Hartmann concluded: “In addition to internal efficiency improvements and new production lines, we will continue to make targeted investments in the training and development of our employees and in patent-protected product developments.”