NOVARTIS TO BUILD NEW R&D FACILITY IN CHINA

Swiss drugmaker Novartis has announced plans to build an integrated biomedical R&D center in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai, China, that will become an integral part of the company's global research and development network.

Novartis is committed to conducting cutting-edge pharmaceutical research and development in China, the company said. The new site enable further expansion of the network of existing R&D alliances that Novartis already has in China.

Research and development activities at the site will initially focus on addressing urgent medical needs in China and Asia, particularly infectious causes of cancer. For example, liver cancer is caused by the hepatitis viruses. Approximately one-third of the world's 400 million people infected with the hepatitis B virus are in China, according to Novartis.

The center will be staffed primarily by scientists recruited from Shanghai's emerging academic, biotech and pharmaceutical research institutions. Researchers will initially work in a 5,000-square-meter start-up facility that is expected to open in May 2007. Construction of a permanent 38,000-square-meter facility for approximately 400 scientists will begin in July 2007. The company has invested $100 million in the design and construction of the two facilities.