Novartis

Novartis AG is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland. Consistently ranked in the global top five, Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and was the fourth largest 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.

Novartis was formed in 1996 by the merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz. It was considered the largest corporate merger in history during that time. The pharmaceutical and agrochemical divisions of both companies formed Novartis as an independent entity. The name Novartis was based on the Latin terms, “novae artes” (new skills).

After the merger, other Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz businesses were sold, or, like Ciba Specialty Chemicals, spun off as independent companies. The Sandoz brand disappeared for three years, but was revived in 2003 when Novartis consolidated its generic drugs businesses into a single subsidiary and named it Sandoz. Novartis divested its agrochemical and genetically modified crops business in 2000 with the spinout of Syngenta in partnership with AstraZeneca, which also divested its agrochemical business. The new company also acquired a series of acquisitions in order to strengthen its core businesses.

Novartis is a full member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). Novartis is the third most valuable pharmaceutical company in Europe, after Novo Nordisk and Roche.