INDIA – Sandoz Technical Operations, a Novartis division has inaugurated its manufacturing plant for medicines and therapies at Kalwe in Mumbai.

The plant, which marks a new chapter for Sandoz, will further strengthen the company’s operations in India to support growing healthcare needs globally.

The new facility will manufacture oral cancer medicines for the global market and will play a key role in enabling the delivery of high-quality cancer treatment.

Situated on an area of 32000 square meters, and equipped with state-of-the-art production technology, the plant is built to cater to the export markets, with Olaparib tablets, Darolutamide tablets and Lenvatinib capsules being the top molecules to be manufactured at the facility.

It currently employs 70 people and plans to expand further to support the expansion of production capacity and capability.

Built on a derelict site, the plant is equipped with wastewater treatment plants to ensure sustainable production.

Novartis said the plant, which opens a new chapter in Sandoz’s business, will further strengthen the company’s operations in India and play a key role in the global growth of its generics business.

Novartis said the plant, which marks a new chapter for its Sandoz business, will further strengthen the company’s operations in India and play a key role in driving global growth for its generics business

The new facility will manufacture oral cancer medicines for the global market and will play a key role in enabling the delivery of high-quality cancer treatment.

Commenting on the inauguration of the plant, Sanjay Murdeshwar, Country President, Novartis India said, “Today is an important milestone for us at Sandoz. The inauguration of the new production and launch site for oncology oral solids at Kalwe in India is a step forward in our constant endeavor to meet the growing demand for generic oral anti-cancer agents across the world and reinforces our position as an industry leader.”

Sandoz spinoff

In other developments, Bloomberg News reported that Novartis prefers a spinoff of its generic drug unit over a potential sale to private equity firms, citing people familiar with the matter.

A challenging macro environment for leveraged buyouts has made the sale route difficult and Novartis sees a separate listing of the Sandoz business as more likely, the report said.

The Swiss pharmaceutical group in October said it had started a strategic review of the Sandoz unit as price pressures mounted in the off-patent drug sector.

Novartis has reiterated its previous statement that the strategic review is ongoing, all options remain on the table and the company plans to provide an update before the end of the year.

Novartis, through its Sandoz division, sells generic drugs in areas such as oncology, immunology, and anti-infectives.

Further to that, Novartis, which currently employs some 108,000 people around the world, confirmed that it would shed thousands of jobs as part of a restructuring plan announced in April.

Under that plan, the company aims to simplify its structure, among other things gathering oncology and other pharmaceutical activities in a single division.

Under that plan, the company aims to simplify its structure, among other things gathering oncology and other pharmaceutical activities in a single division.

No figures were initially given for the layoffs, but Swiss media reported the global number Tuesday, and also said the company planned to slash 1,400 jobs in Switzerland — about 12 percent of its workforce in the country.

In an email sent to employees, Novartis chief Vas Narasimhan explained the company’s new structure, which he promised would be “both leaner and simpler”.

But this “will unfortunately entail layoffs,” he wrote, according to the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper.

Some jobs will be transferred to the Czech Republic and to India, but others, which become superfluous with the restructuring, will be eliminated, it said.

Business development efforts not hampered

Novartis’ spending and business development efforts have not been hampered by the restructuring.

On Thursday, the company pledged US$250 million over five years to advance research and development of new treatments for neglected tropical diseases and malaria.

Novartis pledged US$100 million to advance research and development for Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, dengue fever, and cryptosporidiosis, as well as US$150 million for next-generation antimalarials and a new formulation for babies under 5kg (11 pounds) with malaria.

On June 21, Novartis announced an in vivo genome editing collaboration with Precision BioSciences, for which it committed up to US$1.4 billion.

Precision will create a custom nuclease based on its ARCUS platform to insert a therapeutic transgene into the genome at a “safe harbor” location as a potential one-time treatment for blood disorders such as sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.

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