The plan, which will add 400,000sq ft of extra discovery laboratory space and create 300 new research jobs at the Swiss drugmaker’s facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is scheduled to begin next year.
The new facility will be built on the four-acre site that Novartis leasing from the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009) in 2009 MIT.
Novartis’ spokesman Mark Fishman, said: "Our scientists and physicians here already have discovered a host of new medicines, and established fruitful collaborations with academic, clinical, and biotech institutions. The constellation of talent and environment are unmatched.”
The region’s standing as a hotbed of drug research and R&D base for drug industry luminaries like GSK, Pfizer and Sanofi was also highlighted by Harry Glorikian, general manager of life sciences consulting group Scientia Advisors.
He told the Boston Globe that: “It’s the talent, it’s the concentration of all the parties who are working on new technologies and new capabilities. The big pharma companies are always doing partnerships and deals. By coming here, it makes it a whole lot easier for them to be part of the conversation.”