For the development of new drugs including small molecule and biological medicines to treat diseases that are highly prevalent in China.
Novartis reported that it will invest $1billion over the next five years, increasing R&D activities in China. The company’s investment will include a significant expansion of The Novartis Institute of BioMedical Research (CNIBR) in Shanghai.
Novartis said that the CNIBR institute specializes in basic research and development of new drugs including small molecule and biological medicines to treat diseases that are highly prevalent in China.
Its activities are expected to span work in analytics and biomarkers, in vivo pharmacology, protein production, characterization and scale-up screening and chemistry and proteomics, genomics and imaging.
Daniel Vasella, chairman and CEO of Novartis, said: “We are confident that our expanded investment in R&D will result ininnovative therapies for patients in China and other countriesnurtured by the growing scientific excellence in China. We are also pleased to contribute to the Shanghai government’s aim to establish the city as the premiere R&D center for China’s bio-medicine industry by 2012, as Novartis is committed to invest to further the Chinese government’s strategy for stimulating economic growth, stability and enhancing the livelihood of the Chinese people.”