Novartis

Novartis was formed in 1996 through the merger of Swiss companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz. The global headquarters is located in Basel, Switzerland. The company is publicly traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the ticker NOVN and on the NYSE as an ADR under NVS. Following the October 2023 spin-off of its generics division, Sandoz, Novartis employs approximately 78,000 people globally. The company focuses on the research, development, and manufacturing of prescription pharmaceuticals.

Novartis operates primarily in the research and commercialization of patented prescription medicines. The company targets specific therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, oncology, immunology, and neuroscience. Its primary customers are healthcare systems, hospitals, and pharmacies. The underlying technical and scientific moat consists of proprietary drug patents and a massive clinical trial infrastructure required to secure approvals from regulatory bodies like the FDA and EMA.

The company's pharmaceutical portfolio is driven by key treatments such as Entresto for heart failure and Cosentyx for psoriasis. In recent years, Novartis expanded into gene therapies, notably highlighted by the 2018 acquisition of AveXis for $8.7B and the subsequent commercialization of Zolgensma, a spinal muscular atrophy treatment. The entire generics and biosimilars portfolio was divested when Sandoz became a standalone entity in 2023.

Novartis competes directly in the global pharmaceutical market alongside peers like Roche, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca. The company has shifted its strategy in recent years to focus exclusively on patent-protected original medicines rather than high-volume, lower-margin generics, culminating in the Sandoz separation.

Novartis Israel operates from its offices in Petah Tikva. The local branch does not conduct physical pharmaceutical manufacturing; instead, it serves as the commercial, regulatory, and clinical research arm for the country. The Israeli team manages local regulatory submissions to the Ministry of Health, oversees local sales operations with HMOs and hospitals, and coordinates clinical trials (Phases II through IV) in collaboration with Israeli medical centers.