This paper is dealing with the influence of one dominant sector or industry within a national ecnomy and how related sectors and technologies are influenced. Research objective is the pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland which we suggest shaped the development as well as the spatial distribution of related business sectors such as biotechnology and medical technology. We suppose that its influence differs significantly in terms of spatial reach, meaning that medtech and biotech have profiteered from national institutions shaped by the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, a regional impact shuld be proved in the Basel region where the pharmaceutical industry is concentrated through spin-offs and close business linkage with the pharmaceutical industry. Those suggestions are considered within the theoretical concepts of national and regional innovation systems in terms of evolution, path dependency and interactions.
