24 April 2012 - Novartis on Tuesday announced plans to build a new manufacturing facility at its site in Stein, Switzerland.

Plans for a new manufacturing facility in Switzerland come weeks after the company called off plans to shut down another plant in the country.

Construction of the unit is scheduled to begin in July 2012, with an investment in excess of USD550m, and will replace an older facility at Stein which is due for partial demolition.

The new facility is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2016 and it is expected to make sterile and solid dosage forms, becoming "a key platform for global launches of new pharmaceutical products", according to the company.