Novartis announced Tuesday a $1-billion investment over the next five years aimed at increasing R&D activities in China as demand for healthcare in the country grows rapidly.

The company said the investment will include an expansion of The Novartis Institute of BioMedical Research in Shanghai, which is developing drugs to treat diseases that are highly prevalent in China. The site will become the third largest R&D centre for the group worldwide, and the number of staff is expected to grow at the facility from 160 to around 1000.

Novartis has also invested $250 million in a Chinese R&D plant focused on active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Reference Articles

Novartis unveils $1.25 billion China investment - (BusinessWeek)

Novartis invests $1 bln in China R&D plant - (Forbes)

Novartis to spend $1 billion on China R&D - (MarketWatch)

Novartis announces USD 1 billion investment to build largest pharmaceutical R&D institute in China - (Novartis)

Novartis to invest $1 billion in China - (SwissInfo)

Novartis to invest billion dollars in China - (Yahoo!News)