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Novartis

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"Sandoz Laboratories" redirects here. For the new Sandoz company founded in 2003, see Sandoz.
Novartis International AG
Company typePublic AG
SIX: NOVN, NYSE: NVS
IndustryPharmaceuticals
PredecessorVereinigte Ultramarinfabriken
Sandoz Edit this on Wikidata
Founded1996 (from merger)
HeadquartersBasel, Switzerland
Key people
Daniel Vasella (Chairman), Joseph Jimenez (CEO)
ProductsPharmaceuticals, generic drugs, over-the-counter drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, contact lenses, animal health (list...)
RevenueIncrease US $50.624 billion (2010)[1]
Increase US $11.526 billion (2010)[1]
Increase US $9.969 billion (2010)[1]
Total assetsIncrease US $123.32 billion (end 2010)[1]
Total equityIncrease US $69.769 billion (end 2010)[1]
Number of employees
Increase 119,418 (FTE, end 2010)[1]
SubsidiariesCiba Vision, Sandoz, Alcon
Websitewww.novartis.com

Novartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry.[when?] Company sales totalled 36.173 billon US$ in 2008.[2] Currently,[when?] Novartis is the sixth largest pharmaceutical company in terms of revenue ($41.5 billion in 2009) with a profit margin of about 20%, which is the same as its industry competitors. Novartis profits were down by 31% from 2007 levels.[3] Novartis manufactures such drugs as clozapine (Clozaril), diclofenac (Voltaren), carbamazepine (Tegretol), valsartan (Diovan), imatinib mesylate and (Gleevec / Glivec). Additional agents include ciclosporin (Neoral / Sandimmun), letrozole (Femara), methylphenidate (Ritalin), terbinafine (Lamisil), and others. Renamed to Novartis following an acquisition by Ciba-Geigy, it owns Sandoz, a large manufacturer of generic drugs. The company formerly owned the Gerber Products Company, a major infant and baby products producer, but sold it to Nestlé on 1 September 2007.[4][5][6][7]

Novartis is a full member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)[8] and of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA)[9]

Collaborative research

In addition to internal research and development activities Novartis is also involved in publicly funded collaborative research projects, with other industrial and academic partners. One example in the area of non-clinical safety assessment is the InnoMed PredTox.[10][11] The company is expanding its activities in joint research projects within the framework of the Innovative Medicines Initiative of EFPIA and the European Commission.[12] The company's research operations have their global headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[13]

MKULTRA

Basel headquarters campus redesign

File:Novartis building - 83d40m - basel - frank-gehry p2z.JPG
Human resources building of the new Basel campus of Novartis - designed by Frank Gehry

An ongoing Basel Campus Project has the aim to transform the Saint Johann site—Novartis headquarters in Basel—"from an industrial complex to a place of innovation, knowledge, and encounter".[14] The pharmaceutical giant decided to transform the existing Ciba-Geigy office buildings and chemical factories of its headquarters in 2001.

The buildings gradually were demolished and replaced with works by architects and artists of international stature. Frank Gehry, Rafael Moneo, and from SANAA, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa were among the architects and Jenny Holzer and Richard Serra among the artists. Marked diversity of forms now dominates the campus. Novel features and technologies were introduced by Gehry to conform to the building standards of the Swiss government that prohibit air-conditioning, while still selecting a contemporary style of massive use of glass exteriors. One adaptation by the architect includes the integration of a building vent, teepee-style, through the roof, which creates a chimney effect that draws cool air in at the lower levels and vents warmer air.

Products

Pharmaceuticals

Consumer health (OTC)

In January 2009, the United States Department of Health and Human Services awarded Novartis a $486 million contract for construction of the first U.S. plant to produce cell-based influenza vaccine, to be located in Holly Springs, North Carolina. The stated goal of this program is the capability of producing 150,000,000 doses of pandemic vaccine within six months of declaring a flu pandemic.[16]

Animal health

Pet Care

Livestock

  • Acatalk Duostar (Fluazuron, Ivermectin), tick control for cattle
  • CLiK (Dicyclanil), blowfly control for sheep
  • Denagard (Tiamulin)
  • Fasinex (Triclabendazole)
  • ViraShield

Bioprotection (insect and rodent control)

Research and development

The major bases for R&D are Basel, Shanghai, and Boston. Operations in China are set for rapid expansion within the next[when?] five years.[17]

Major therapeutic areas are autoimmunity/transplantation/inflammatory disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, gastrointestinal disease, infectious diseases, musculoskeletal disease, neuroscience, oncology, ophthalmology, and respiratory disease.

Controversies and criticism

Challenge to India's patent laws

In 2006, Novartis launched a court case against India seeking to prohibit the country from developing generic drugs based on patented medicines.[18] Novartis had challenged a law that allows India to refuse to recognize a patent for an existing medicine if there is a modified formula resulting in a re-patent of the drug.[19] On August 5, 2007, an Indian court in Chennai ruled against Novartis saying that, "Novartis' legal challenge - mounted to limit competition to its own patented medicines - was a threat to people suffering from cancer, HIV and AIDS, diabetes and other diseases who are too poor to pay for them."[20] The high court also claimed to have no jurisdiction on whether Indian Patent law complied with WTO patent guidelines.

In the months leading up to the hearing, more than half a million people wrote to the CEO of Novartis expressing their opposition to the suit. Novartis has decided not to appeal the ruling.[21]

Advertising practices

In September 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a notice to Novartis Pharmaceuticals regarding its advertising of Focalin XR, an ADHD drug, in which the company overstated its efficacy while marketing to the public and medical professionals.[22]

'No' to free flu vaccines

In June 2009, Novartis declined to provide free vaccines to the poor in order to counter a current flu epidemic, saying developing nations or donor nations should cover the costs. Daniel Vasella, Novartis chief executive, told the Financial Times that he would consider offering discounted pricing to low-income nations, but unlike GlaxoSmithKline, would not offer vaccines for free.[23]

Sexual discrimination

On May 17, 2010, a jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York awarded $3,367,250 in compensatory damages against Novartis, finding that the company had committed sexual discrimination against twelve female sales representatives and entry-level managers since 2002, in matters of pay, promotion, and treatment after learning that the employees were pregnant. Two days later (the trial was bifurcated so that the punitive damages verdict was argued and deliberated separately), the jury awarded punitive damages in the amount of $250 million, representing about 2% of Novartis' gross revenues for 2009. Normally punitive damages would be reduced to less than a 10-1 ratio, but the trial was for a group of named plaintiffs in a class action, who were representing a class of 5,600 class members. The jury was instructed to award compensatory damages just to the named plaintiffs, but to award punitive damages to the entire class. Once the court makes findings on compensatory damages for the remaining class members (which are estimated by plaintiffs' counsel at just under $1 billion), the $250 million is expected to satisfy the Supreme Court's single-digit ratio test for proportionality of compensatory to punitive damages.[24]

Settlement of Fraud Charges

In September, 2010, Novartis agreed to pay USD 422.5 million in criminal and civil claims and enter Corporate Integrity Agreement with the US Office of the Inspector General. [25] According to the New York Times "Federal prosecutors accused Novartis of paying illegal kickbacks to health care professionals through speaker programs, advisory boards, entertainment, travel and meals. But aside from pleading guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mislabeling in an agreement that Novartis announced in February, the company denied wrongdoing." [26] In the same New York Times article, Frank Lichtenberg, a Columbia professor who receives pharmaceutical financing for research on innovation in the industry, said off-label prescribing was encouraged by the American Medical Association and paid for by insurers, but off-label marketing was clearly illegal. “So it’s not surprising that they would settle because they don’t have a legal leg to stand on,” he said.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Annual Report 2010" (PDF). Novartis. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  2. ^ "Top 15 global corporations" (PDF). IMS. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  3. ^ "Novartis". Fortune. Time Inc. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  4. ^ "Gerber: Infant and Baby". Novartis. Archived from the original on January 25, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
  5. ^ Novartis completes divestment program with transfer of Gerber baby foods business[dead link]
  6. ^ Nestlé Consolidates Nutrition Leadership Position Through Acquisition of Gerber. April 12, 2007.
  7. ^ Nestlé completes its acquisition of Gerber. September 3, 2007.
  8. ^ "The Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures - 2008 Edition". European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). p. 49. Retrieved 2008-08-25.[dead link]
  9. ^ IFPMA website|url=http://www.ifpma.org/aboutus/index.php?id=2096/
  10. ^ Mattes WB (2008), Public consortium efforts in toxicogenomics, Methods Mol Biol. 2008;460:221-38 [1]
  11. ^ "InnoMed PredTox Member Organizations". Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  12. ^ Innovative Medicines Initiative. "IMI Call Topics 2008". IMI-GB-018v2-24042008-CallTopics.pdf. European Commission. Retrieved 2008-08-25.[dead link] [dead link]
  13. ^ Ross, Casey (2010-10-27). "Novartis doubles plan for Cambridge". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference novartis1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Novartis official 2007 product sales[dead link]
  16. ^ "US Department of Health and Human Services awards Novartis USD 486 million contract to build manufacturing facility for pandemic flu vaccine" (Press release). Novartis. January 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
  17. ^ FT.com / Reports - Pharmaceuticals: Drug development with Chinese characteristics
  18. ^ "India's cheap drugs under patent threat". BBC News. 2007-02-15. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  19. ^ Indian ruling against pharmaceutical giant Novartis a victory for public health
  20. ^ Ibid. Patients before Profits.
  21. ^ Ibid. Make Trade Fair.
  22. ^ "Focalin XR (dexmethylphenidate hydrochloride) extended-release capsules CII". Warning Letters. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 2008-09-25. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
  23. ^ "Novartis says 'no' to free flu vaccines". Andrew Jack. Financial Times. June 15 2009.
  24. ^ Mark Hamblett, "Novartis Hit With $250 Million in Punitives in Gender Bias Case", New York Law Journal, 20 May 2010.
  25. ^ Novartis Media Release, "Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a US subsidiary of Novartis AG, reaches settlement agreement with US Attorney's Office", 'Novartis websist, 30 September 2010.
  26. ^ Duff Wilson, "Novartis Settles Off-Label Marketing Case Over 6 Drugs for $422.5 Million", "New York Times, 1 October 2010.
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