Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan visits Slovenia
- Yesterday, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan visited Novartis in Slovenia. He assumed the role of CEO of the world’s largest pharmaceutical company in February 2018.
- Together with Zvone Bogdanovski, Novartis Slovenia Country President, Vas Narasimhan visited Novartis sites in Mengeš and Ljubljana, connected to Prevalje and Lendava sites and met with many employees.
- With this visit, Vas Narasimhan confirmed the long-term vision of Novartis in Slovenia in which this international company has invested more than EUR 2 billion to date.
Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, the world’s second largest pharmaceutical company, paid a one-day visit to Slovenia. Together with Zvone Bogdanovski, Novartis’ Slovenia Country president, he visited key development and production sites of Novartis Slovenia, and met with many employees to talk about their work and Novartis’ vision.
Vas Narasimhan first visited the Novartis site in Mengeš, where he observed the development and production of drug substances in Chemical Operations Mengeš, and the development and production of biological and biosimilar medicines in Biopharmaceuticals in Mengeš. After Mengeš he arrived in Ljubljana, where he visited the production units Solids and Aseptics, the Sandoz Development Center Slovenia, and became acquainted with the work of other Novartis divisions and units in Slovenia. As part of his visit to Mengeš and Ljubljana, he also connected live via video link with the employees in Lendava and Prevalje, and thus learned more about their work and contributions.
Vas Narasimhan devoted special attention to meeting talents with whom he shared his valuable career experience in the pharmaceutical industry, and listened to their vision of the company’s development and innovative ideas.
At the conclusion of his visit to Slovenia, Vas Narasimhan held a town hall meeting in Ljubljana that was video streamed to all other Novartis sites – in Mengeš, Lendava, and Prevalje. At the town hall, he confirmed the long-term vision of Novartis in Slovenia. As he pointed out, Novartis Slovenia, with all its divisions, is the largest healthcare provider, employing nearly 4,000 people and being one of the key economic entities in the country. In the future, Novartis will continue to strengthen its role and contribution to society and patients in Slovenia.
Novartis is the leading provider of medicines in Slovenia, where Lek, Novartis Pharma Services and Sandoz, operate. Together we are building and maintaining the reputation of a dynamic, ethical, and trusted pharmaceutical company. Lek develops, manufactures, and markets effective, safe, and high quality medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients. With our knowledge, quality, and experience we have gained an important role in Novartis' organizational structure, especially in the Novartis Technical Operations, Global Drug Development, Novartis Business Services, and the generic division Sandoz. We are the leading Sandoz development center, and one of the key development sites for technologically complex projects. We invest a great deal in the development, education, and training of our employees. Novartis invested in Slovenia more than EUR 2 billion since 2003. More than half of this investment has been devoted to development, and the rest to modernize and expand our production capacities.
Sandoz is a global leader in generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals. 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 2017 sales of USD 10.1 billion. In 2017, our products reached more than 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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Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2017, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.1 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 124,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.
This press release contains statements and conclusions based on projections of Lek’s future business operations. These estimates are derived from the best information currently available. In case these forecasts prove unreliable, the actual results could prove different from those projected.
For additional information contact:
Katarina Klemenc
Corporate Communications
Lek Pharmaceuticals d. d.
Phone: +386 1 580 22 43
Fax: +386 1 580 24 32
katarina.klemenc@sandoz.com