The Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz, the third largest global manufacturer of generics and biosimilars, will invest 50 million euros in its plant in Palafolls (Maresme), which is why it estimates that around 60 new jobs will be created.
After the spin-off of Novartis, approved on September 15, and the debut of Sandoz on the Zurich Stock Exchange, those responsible for the company in Spain have explained the main lines of its strategy.
The president of Sandoz Spain and general director of Iberia (Spain and Portugal), Joaquín Rodrigo, has explained that these 50 million euros are part of the investment of about 250 that the company will allocate to improving its infrastructure, which highlights the Kundl factory (Austria).
Of the 22,000 employees that the company has worldwide, about 800 are located in Spain and Portugal, a figure that will vary when the Franqueses del Vallès plant (Vallès Oriental) closes at the end of 2024, which has already been agreed with workers and unions.
Of the approximately 260 employees of Les Franqueses, 40% will be relocated to Palafolls and the remaining 60% will benefit from retirement and early retirement; Likewise, Sandoz plans to incorporate around 150 people into its network of centers of excellence - of which there are 7 in Madrid.
On October 4, the company debuted on the SLI of the Zurich Stock Exchange, which brings together the 30 largest companies on the Swiss stock market, and after closing the day higher, its market capitalization was close to 11,000 million euros. In the immediate future, Joaquín Rodrigo explained, Sandoz does not plan to list in other markets, although in the long term "it may consider going public in New York."
Sandoz has great historical importance in the development of the pharmaceutical industry since its founding in 1886, and its advances include the first calcium medicine in 1921; the first oral penicillin, in 1951, and the world's first biosimilar -growth hormone-, in 2006. In addition, it was in its laboratories where LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) was accidentally discovered, during experiments by scientist Albert Hofmann in the 30s and 40s of the last century.
