Novartis Reinforces Commitment to Sandoz With Major Investment in Business

• Total investment of EUR 105 million in Prevalje site reinforces commitment to largest Sandoz business, Anti-Infectives, and single largest global product, broad-spectrum antibiotic amoxicillin-clavulanic acid.
• The investment will bring 150 new jobs, more than doubling the number of employees at Prevalje over six years.
• The project, scheduled for completion in 2019, will be the largest Novartis investment in Slovenia to date.

Prevalje, Slovenia, 18-Apr-2017 — /EuropaWire/ —  A foundation stone for the new production plant for a broad-spectrum antibiotic, the single largest Sandoz product by global sales, was laid today at the Novartis site in Prevalje, in the presence of Miro Cerar, PhD, Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia.

With this investment in new facilities, Novartis is consolidating its position as one of the most important employers in the Carinthia region. By 2019, around 150 new employees are expected to join the existing 246 employees at the Prevalje site, more than doubling the number of employees over only six years (2013/ 2019 index 223). These are mainly jobs that bring high added value and the emphasis is on recruiting employees locally.

The value of the first investment stage is EUR 85 million, starting in 2017 with expected completion by 2019. The total value of the investment will amount to EUR 105 million and will be the largest Novartis investment in Slovenia to date.

Speaking at the foundation-laying ceremony, Vojmir Urlep, President of the Board of Management of Lek, said: “With this investment in a new production plant in Prevalje, Novartis reaffirmed its intention of a long-term presence in Slovenia. Since 2003, Novartis has invested more than EUR 1.9 billion in Slovenia.

“More than EUR 1 billion has been dedicated to development, and the rest to modernization and expansion of production capacities. Over the last five years, Novartis has employed in total more than 1400 new associates in Slovenia.

The new production plant in Prevalje will, as well as increasing production capacity, strengthen the competitiveness of the Prevalje site and its significance within the company.”

When implementing the investment in Prevalje, Lek will cooperate mainly with Slovenian companies; positive impacts on the national economy are expected to be seen already in the early stage of construction. Both the concept and projects for construction were developed entirely in Slovenia, utilizing local knowledge.

Lek has been operating in Prevalje for nearly 40 years. Broad-spectrum antibiotic amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, the finished pharmaceutical product that is manufactured here, is sold in more than 60 markets around the globe, including the US. Annually, more than half a billion tablets are manufactured in Prevalje.

The new production plant and continuing employment growth are based on intensive demand growth as recorded by the Prevalje site in the recent development period. The average annual production growth over the last five years has been more than 10%.

About Sandoz
Sandoz is a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. As a division of the Novartis Group, our purpose is to discover new ways to improve and extend people’s lives. We contribute to society’s ability to support growing healthcare needs by pioneering novel approaches to help people around the world access high-quality medicine. Our portfolio of approximately 1000 molecules, covering all major therapeutic areas, accounted for 2016 sales of USD 10.1 billion. In 2016, our products reached well over 500 million patients and we aspire to reach one billion. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany’s Greater Munich area.
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SOURCE: Sandoz International GmbH