Novartis to expand R (and) D Centre in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Jan 24 : Global healthcare major Novartis will expand its operations in Hyderabad to establish its high potent formulation development labs along with analytical development facility.

This was conveyed by a senior official of the company during a meeting with Telangana Industries Minister K.T.

Rama Rao in Davos on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meet.

The expansion will facilitate 150 more scientific researchers and will significantly boost the development of Genome Valley, said a statement from the minister's office here.

Petra Laux, Global Head Public Affairs Policy, Novartis, said this R (and) D Centre was one of their key development centres globally with focus on analytical development, stability studies and formulation development.

She mentioned that their current footprint was about 90,000 square feet of laboratory space employing about 350 scientific researchers and will expand to 162,000 square feet.

Rama Rao talked about the overall plans for Hyderabad Pharma City and the animal testing facility coming up in Hyderabad.

Participating in the WEF for the first time, Telangana is trying to woo investors.

The delegation led by Rama Rao called on top executives of various companies and business leaders in Davos.

At the state pavilion at WEF, the delegation met the investors and briefed them about the enormous opportunities Hyderabad and other parts of the state offer.

The minister also met Anthony Fernandes, CEO, AirAsia Berhad, and discussed the prospects of setting up AirAsia's Tech Centre in Telangana and running innovation programmes to support start-ups in aerospace sector.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, also met a delegation from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries led by Ken Kawai, Executive Vice President.

He invited Mitsubishi heads to Telangana to look into the opportunities for foreign investors and urged them to set up a Japanese Small and Medium Enterprises Park in Telangana.

He also called on Aloke Lohia, founder and group CEO, Indorama Ventures PCL, the world's largest polyester company by capacity.

During the meeting, the minister explained about Telangana's progressive industrial policies and also the existing textiles ecosystem.

He invited Aloke Lohia to explore investment opportunities in Kakatiya Mega Textiles Park coming up in Warangal.

KTR also met Mohammed I.

Al Shaibani, CEO, Investment Corporation of Dubai and discussed the possibility of setting up their Tech Centre in Telangana.

In a meeting with Ana Pinczuk, SVP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), he invited the HP team to visit Hyderabad to explore opportunities for the collaboration with T-Hub in innovation space.

--IANS

ms/him/mr.



Source: IANS