Novartis

Novartis AG is a Swiss international biotechnology and pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland (global research), and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Novartis is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. It is always in the top five, and it was the fourth-largest company by revenue in 2022.

Novartis manufactures the drugs clozapine (Clozaril), diclofenac (Voltaren; sold to GlaxoSmithKline in 2015 deal), carbamazepine (Tegretol), valsartan (Diovan), imatinib mesylate (Gleevec/Glivec), cyclosporine (Neoral/Sandimmune), letrozole (Femara), methylphenidate (Ritalin; production ceased 2020), terbinafine (Lamisil), deferasirox (Exjade), and others.

The companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz merged in March 1996 to make Novartis. The pharmaceutical and agrochemical businesses of both companies came together to make Novartis a separate company. Other Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz businesses were sold or split off into their own companies, like Ciba Specialty Chemicals. The Sandoz brand went away for three years, but it came back in 2003 when Novartis merged all of its generic drug businesses into one and called it Sandoz. Novartis sold its business in agrochemicals and genetically modified crops in 2000 when it spun off Syngenta with AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca also sold its business in agrochemicals.

Novartis is a full member of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).

Founded: 1996

Headquarters: Basel, Switzerland

Website: https://www.novartis.com/