Novartis appoints PharmaVentures to look at options for Horsham plant in UK

Published: 14-Apr-2014

Will sell off some of the site to Linden Homes


Novartis has appointed healthcare consultancy PharmaVentures to explore options for the future of its site in Horsham, West Sussex, UK, which could include re-using part of it for a science or business park, and creating a legacy with the possibility of some highly skilled jobs for the area in the future.

PharmaVentures, located in Oxford and London, will provide expert advice on the feasibility of doing this and help identify potential partners.

The Swiss drugmaker says it will also sell off the north part of the site, currently used as a car park, to the developer Linden Homes.

This sale will be complete by 1 September. No work will go ahead on this land until Novartis staff have left the site in June, the company says.

The site would also be ideal as a business park as Horsham is an attractive location

Novartis said in February that it would close its site in Horsham as part of a global reorganisation of its R&D functions, which will mean the loss of 371 jobs.

The facility houses Novartis's worldwide headquarters for respiratory research. There are also up to 170 third-party suppliers and contractors at the plant.

'The Novartis Horsham site is a perfect location for a high technology park,' said Dr Fintan Walton, Chief Executive of PharmaVentures. 'Novartis has built state of the art facilities, suitable for pharmaceutical/life science or other high technology businesses.

'With such high-quality facilities, we expect interest from both universities and research institutes,' he said.

'The site would also be ideal as a business park as Horsham is an attractive location due to its strong international links through Gatwick airport and its proximity to London.'

Novartis says it will continue to employ more than 2,500 people and be a major investor in the UK.

It will retain manufacturing sites at Grimsby (chemical operations), Liverpool (vaccines) and Dundee (animal health), commercial offices in Surrey, and a team at Sittingbourne, Kent, developing patient diagnostic testing products.

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