Novartis adds 50 mln euros to European antibiotics investment budget

Sandoz, the generic drugs business that will be spun off its parent Novartis, will increase investment in its European antibiotics production network by 50 million euros ($50 million) on strong global demand for bacteria-fighting medicines. The construction of a penicillin production site in Kundl, Austria, takes the company's total European investment budget for antibiotics to more than 250 million euros, Sandoz said in a statement.

It had previously announced plans to invest more than 150 million euros in Kundl, including about 50 million in Austrian state support, as well as 50 million euros to make injectable antibiotics in Palafolls, Spain.