Novartis Strengthens Indian Operations With Biggest R&D Hub Globally

Novartis is also rapidly increasing its business footprint in India making India its biggest global R&D center outside Switzerland.

The Swiss firm has a workforce exceeding 9,000 employees in Hyderabad and Mumbai. This is a significant change in the way Novartis develops drugs to the global market in India.

Novartis has been operating support in India over the years. In present times, the company has the largest global corporate centre outside Basel in Novartis Corporate Centre (NOCC), Hyderabad. It has biomedical research, clinical development, data analytics, digital technology, finance and commercial strategy. Indian teams no longer perform routine work only.

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They are now involved in nearly all late stage molecules in clinical operations, regulatory affairs, biostatistics and sophisticated analytics. According to Novartis, this change is the transition between cost-oriented activities and high-value innovation that is science- and data-driven. According to industry leaders, the center demonstrates the increasing power of India in global pharmaceutical R&D.

Novartis scientists in India develop such trendy topics as siRNA therapeutics, radioligand therapy, and advanced data science. Genome Valley and other hubs have teams to offer technical development and regulatory assistance of major products in Novartis pipeline products. At Novartis, the executives claim that the India center is owned by the global operations, and it is not an off-shoring center.

According to Dr. Sadhna Joglekar, the Head of the Development India Hub, India is currently strategically positioned to facilitate the movement of medicines through molecule to market. The growth of Novartis can be seen as a general trend in the pharma industry. The growing global R&D activity is closely based in India with scientific talent, digital and a developing ecosystem of innovation.