A Swiss newspaper has said Novartis' previously announced restructuring programme could lead to 8,000 axed jobs, including up to 1,400 at its home base in Switzerland.
Novartis chief executive Vas Narasimhan, already eyeing a possible divestment of generics business Sandoz, has now turned his attention to the rest of the company.
The comprehensive restructuring of Novartis under new CEO Vas Narasimhan resulted in $15 billion in bolt-on acquisitions last year, and he wants to keep up that momentum.
Joe Jimenez is to step down after eight years as Novartis chief executive, and will be leaving on a high after last week’s first-in-class CAR-T approval.
Novartis is trialling artificial intelligence (AI) in settings across drug discovery and drug development to help its scientists improve decision making.