After announcing in November 2013 that it was in consultations to close its R&D site in Horsham, UK, Novartis has confirmed that the site will stop all operations by the end of June 2014. The respiratory research group at Horsham survived a cutback in 2011, and in 2012, Novartis reaffirmed that it would keep the group at the site.
The company says that the decision “is a result of a global review of our R&D locations and where best to co-locate research teams to support collaboration. It is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to align resources to serve patients and customers better in a challenging healthcare marketplace.”
According to a Novartis spokesperson, the company “is proceeding with the removal of sales and marketing support for products in diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Many of our impacted associates found positions within the company and we worked collaboratively with other pharmaceutical companies with the goal to make sure as many associates as possible found positions. Further, we continue to work to make sure our portfolio of medicines in diabetes and COPD remains available to patients.”
The company says that “support and availability” for all other Novartis drugs, including those for severe allergic asthma, “remains unchanged.”
Read the Novartis press release.
