Novartis expands India development hubs as global pipeline grows

Novartis is expanding the work carried out from its India development centres as the Swiss drugmaker amping up its global focus on cardio-renal-metabolic diseases, oncology, immunology and neuroscience. The scale-up comes as the company steps up investments in technology platforms such as radioligand therapy, xRNA, gene and cell therapies, and data-intensive development models.

India is now embedded across the full spectrum of Novartis’ development workflow. “Nearly every molecule that reaches late-stage development in Novartis sees great contribution from teams in India,” Dr Sadhna Joglekar, Senior Vice President and Head of the Development India Hub said. The work spans chemistry, analytics, biostatistics, clinical operations, documentation and AI-enabled analyses. India teams already support multiple Phase II and Phase III programmes across priority therapeutic areas.

While Novartis did not share location-wise specifics, Dr Joglekar named inclisiran, lutetium-177 vipivotide tetraxetan and remibrutinib as recent programmes where India delivered measurable inputs, including analytical method development, process optimisation, clinical operations and data management.

Obesity is emerging as a key area of assessment. With global data pushing companies to move faster, Novartis is evaluating next-generation approaches but does not intend to enter with “another ‘me-too’ GLP-1 or GIP agent.” Early research is underway on longer-acting biologics and siRNA-based mechanisms. She added that India is already contributing to the broader cardio-metabolic strategy and will play a central role should an obesity programme move to late-stage development.

The India footprint of Novartis spans across Biomedical Research, Development hub, Commercial and Operations with over 9000 employees. India, she said, offers an advantage “not just in scale and depth of talent, but in the integration of science, data and operations within a single ecosystem.” With ~2,800 physicians, scientists and experts in the Development India Hub, the country accounts for nearly 11 per cent of Novartis’ global workforce.

Novartis is also building new capabilities in digital and hybrid trials, biomarker and quantitative sciences, model-informed development and complex CMC work. Tools such as Protocol.AI and the Clinical Intelligence Platform are being strengthened in India through data engineering and modelling teams. Safety science and real-world evidence functions are also set to expand as India becomes a larger pharmacovigilance centre.

The Genome Valley and Hi-Tech City hubs have deepened work on radioligand therapy precursors, oligonucleotides, small molecules and analytical packages that support global life-cycle management. “The complexity of the work will grow,” Dr Joglekar said, as platforms like RLT and xRNA mature.

India’s role is also rising as Novartis evaluates new geographies, indications and patient cohorts. “Speed to evidence, quality at scale and platform expertise” are the three areas where India accelerates global decisions, she noted. Many upcoming assets remain confidential, but the template seen with inclisiran (lipid lowering siRNA), remibrutinib (therapy for spontaneous chronic urticaria) and RLT therapies (treatment for prostrate cancer) is expected to apply across the pipeline.

“What is unique is that our hub does not support a single therapy area—it spans the full pipeline,” she added. With more than 2,800 development professionals across Hyderabad, Genome Valley and Mumbai, nearly every global programme now touches India.