Amsterdam's life sciences and health industry

Amsterdam’s excellent infrastructure for research

The Amsterdam Area is home to academic hospitals, two respected universities and many specialised research institutes. Other major institutes include the Netherlands Cancer Institute, the Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation and ACTA (one of the top dental education and research facilities in the world). Other scientific hotspots such as Wageningen and Leiden are about an hour away. This ensures that all companies active in life sciences enjoy superb access to innovative technologies, clinical trials, biobanks and centres of expertise. The companies directly active in life sciences are aided by hundreds of specialised partners in financial & business services, ICT and logistics. amsterdam inbusiness has a major role in bringing together corporates, universities, research institutes and talent in the sector, and the Amsterdam Science Park – one of Europe’s largest concentrations of high-level scientific education and research – also brings business, science and innovation together.

Bringing innovation to the rest of the world

The Amsterdam Area is a strategically located logistics hub from which to ship your precious products. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Port of Amsterdam and high-quality road and rail links ensure the region is a gateway to Europe and beyond. Specialist services such as a pharma zone at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, biomass transhipment facilities at the Port of Amsterdam and guidance from the Pharma Logistics Steering Group ensure the region is a leader in life sciences-related logistics. But Amsterdam's not just physically well-connected: it also boasts top-notch digital connectivity. The Netherlands is known for having some of Europe's fastest internet speeds, and Amsterdam itself is home to some truly impressive data centres, including one of the world's largest data-transport hubs, AMS-IX.

“Our office in the Amsterdam Area provides us with an excellent springboard for strengthening our position.” – Cem Bozkurt, Alvimedica Medical Technologies

Where great minds meet

The Amsterdam Area is also home to a broad talent pool. The city has a productive regional workforce drawing from 178 different nationalities, and 44% of the population has attended higher education institutions. Amsterdam also has the country’s highest density of knowledge workers and an increasing influx of workers from other EU countries, all facilitated by the services of IN Amsterdam. According to the World Talent Index, the Netherlands ranks fourth in the world for attracting and developing talent, surpassing every other country on the European continent. And over 90% of Dutch people speak English; in fact, the Netherlands took the top spot on the EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) – the world's largest ranking of countries by their English skills.