Novartis recently announced that it will continue to increase its investment in China, expanding its R&D, production and operations in the country. The investment is expected to exceed RMB 3.3 billion , contributing to the innovation and high-quality development of China's biopharmaceutical industry.

In a press release, Novartis stated that, upholding its commitment to "China," Novartis continues to increase its investment in China, constantly upgrading and improving its integrated strategic layout encompassing R&D, production, and business development. To further enhance its innovation and production capabilities in the Chinese market, Novartis will launch a large-scale investment expansion plan in 2026.

Novartis' Changping plant , established in 1987, has a maximum annual production capacity of 3 billion tablets/capsules and 550 million boxes of packaging, making it an important production base in Novartis' global manufacturing and supply network. Currently, the plant has launched a new round of expansion and upgrade projects , with plans to invest approximately RMB 1.5 billion in the future to construct new factory buildings and supporting facilities, and introduce new production technologies and equipment such as aseptic preparation processes, liquid filling, and packaging.

Furthermore, Novartis's Shanghai campus, home to its China headquarters, will celebrate its 10th anniversary of operation this year. Novartis has planned to jointly invest RMB 1.8 billion with investors to launch the second phase of the Shanghai campus project .

Currently, China has become Novartis' second largest market globally.

According to Novartis' financial report, Novartis' revenue in China will reach US$4.2 billion in 2025, an increase of 8% year-on-year, accounting for 7.68% of total revenue.

In terms of products, blockbuster products such as sacubitril/valsartan sodium tablets and secukinumab injection contributed the main sales revenue; new products such as reboxil succinate tablets, inxilem sodium injection, and ipocopan hydrochloride capsules experienced rapid growth and contributed incremental revenue.
In addition, Novartis stated that while continuing to increase its own R&D investment, it will actively explore potential external cooperation opportunities in China's biopharmaceutical industry.

On the one hand, Novartis will actively expand its clinical research scale in China and accelerate the development of innovative drugs in the Chinese market; at the same time, it will leverage the efficiency and quality of clinical research in China to promote early-stage (Phase I/II) clinical studies and accelerate the innovative development of its global pipeline. On the other hand, Novartis is also continuously increasing its investment in business expansion in China, exploring potential local innovative companies earlier and more deeply, and deepening collaborative innovation with Chinese partners.

Since 2024, Novartis has partnered with several innovative Chinese pharmaceutical companies, with a potential investment of over RMB 80 billion , covering multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, oncology, kidney disease, and neuroscience.

Besides Novartis, several other multinational pharmaceutical companies (MNCs) have recently announced increased investments in China, demonstrating their confidence in the long-term development of the Chinese pharmaceutical market.

On March 11, 2026, Eli Lilly announced plans to invest a total of $3 billion over the next ten years to fully expand its supply chain capacity in China, build a local production and supply system for oral solid dosage forms, and focus on developing production capacity for its first oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, orforglipron.

On January 29, 2026, AstraZeneca announced plans to invest over 100 billion yuan (approximately US$15 billion) in China by 2030 to expand its presence in pharmaceutical manufacturing and research and development.

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