Swiss multi to set up research and development base in Budapest

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis will set up a regional research and development base in Budapest, which will coordinate research projects in southern Europe and Africa, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Friday.

The number of employees involved in R+D will increase by 25 percent as a result, he added.

“This is a win for the country, a win for the economy, as value added will continue to grow, and a win for the patients, who will get the opportunity to participate in Novartis’ clinical research programmes,” the minister said.

Novartis, which employs around 400 people in Hungary, currently has 65 clinical tests underway in the country and 10,000 Hungarians took part in these programmes in the past decade, he added.

Szijjártó noted that output of Hungary’s pharmaceutical sector has doubled over the past ten years. The sector has more than 30,000 employees and exports 87 percent of its output. In terms of pharmaceutical exports, Hungary ranks 20th in the world, he added.

Bilateral trade between Hungary and Switzerland grew 13 percent to more than EUR 2 billion last year, Szijjártó said. There are around 900 Swiss companies operating in Hungary, employing more than 30,000 people, he added.