Novartis Invests in China with Major R&D Center

June 3, 2016

Basel-based Novartis has opened a new, $1 billion research and development campus in Shanghai, China.

The 7-building, 1,300-person facility joins Novartis' two other R&D centers in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Basel, Switzerland, becoming the company’s third main hub for drug research.

Major drugmakers are beginning to invest in the new role the Chinese could play in discovering life-changing drugs as the Chinese government pushes to change its country's reputation for lagging behind in innovation.

Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez told Fortune "I think in 10 years you’re going to see a big change. This R&D center that we’ve built is a 20-year commitment. This is a country that is going to continue to grow in healthcare."