Company will close research sites in China and Switzerland, and relocate another from Singapore to US

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis is shutting down its biological drug research in Shanghai, China, and potentially another research site in Schlieren, Switzerland. The company will also move its Institute for Tropical Diseases, which employs about 85 people, from Singapore to Emeryville, US, over the next 12–18 months.

Novartis is in the middle of a major restructuring effort concentrating its biotherapeutics research in Cambridge, US, and Basel, Switzerland. The tropical diseases unit is moving to be closer to the company’s infectious diseases research centre, which is already in Emeryville.

Merck & Co will also close down its manufacturing plant in Miami Lakes, US, by the end of the year to cut costs. The closure will eliminate around 112 positions.