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The multi-year investment will be implemented across the company’s existing locations in Switzerland, Slovenia and Austria

Novartis is making an investment of $300m in next-generation biotherapeutics with the creation of an integrated scientific environment that it hopes will ‘bolster’ its capacity and capabilities for early technical development of biologics, the company announced.

The multi-year investment will span both drug substance and drug product development and will be implemented across existing Novartis locations in Switzerland, Slovenia and Austria. The company hopes this move will strengthen its ability to ‘deliver on the increasing growth and diversity of its early-stage biotherapeutics portfolio’.

Novartis outlined that over the past 15 years, the company has made significant growth in its early-stage biologics portfolio, expanding beyond conventional monoclonal antibodies into a wide range of novel development candidates, including antibody-drug conjugates and therapeutic proteins.

Commenting on the investment, Reto Fischer, head of technical research division, global drug development, Novartis, said: “Across the industry, biotherapeutics account for almost one-half of all recent new drug approvals and have enormous potential to address unmet need across a wide range of diseases.

“We are building the scientific environment necessary to bring these complex biologic compounds from the bench through development in an integrated, seamless and rapid fashion. In doing so, we are supporting our broader ambition to enable faster development and focused prioritisation across our global portfolio.”

Specifically, the investment will strengthen the Novartis St Johann campus in Basel, Switzerland, by investing $100m to establish a biologics hub to complement the existing Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) Biologics Center, as well as create a biocampus in Mengeš, Slovenia, with an investment of $110m in clinical manufacturing capabilities and technical development capabilities in proximity of development operations.

The company also outlined that the investment will ‘amplify synergies and strategic proximity’ at its Schaftenau campus in Austria with a $60m investment in development manufacturing capacity and capabilities.

Jonathan Novak, global head for biologics, technical research division, global drug development, Novartis, said: “The science of developing biologics is increasingly sophisticated, and we are excited to meet its challenges head-on.

“We look forward to amplifying the knowledge and experience of our associates to ensure that biologics development is an exhilarating and rewarding process for our current and future colleagues – and that is ultimately a source of profoundly innovative new therapies for patients worldwide.”