The Swiss insurer’s report, Beyond 2030: The Future of Life Sciences, is based on interviews with 34 experts, including external industry specialists and Zurich staff, and a survey of 62 respondents. Respondents ranked artificial intelligence and digital misuse as the most severe risk facing the sector over the next five years, followed by the impact of emergent technologies and macroeconomic change.

“Sweden has one of Europe’s strongest life science sectors, with world-leading research and successful companies. But as the pace of innovation increases, so do the risks and complexity. Success requires the ability to identify vulnerabilities, build resilience, and turn scientific advances into tangible benefits for patients,” says Mattias Fritz, CEO of Zurich in the Nordics.

Four interconnected trends

The report highlights four interconnected trends that could transform the industry over the coming decade:

  1. National security shapes innovation. Governments increasingly treat manufacturing, health data, and advanced technologies as strategic assets. As trade policy and geopolitical tensions affect access, where innovation happens and who gets to participate become strategic questions, not just scientific ones.
  2. Discovery is faster, but proof still takes time. AI is accelerating research, yet scientific advances are only the first step. Clinical evidence, regulatory approval, manufacturing capacity, and reimbursement determine whether innovations reach patients.
  3. Care moves beyond institutions. Care is increasingly delivered through connected devices, digital platforms, and tools that patients use and manage themselves – creating new opportunities for patients, but also raising questions about accountability, cybersecurity, and data governance.
  4. One-time treatments demand new business models. More therapies can deliver lasting benefits from a single intervention rather than ongoing treatment. While this may improve patient outcomes, healthcare systems and companies will need to rethink how innovation is financed, priced, and reimbursed.

Taken together, the trends point to a shift in which competitive advantage depends less on the product itself. According to the report, companies need to address regulatory requirements, market access, pricing, and reimbursement early, while securing access to manufacturing, data, and technology and building clear structures for accountability and governance.