Novartis International BioCamp highlights how collaboration and diversity drive innovation and inspires future science leaders

• The International Biotechnology Leadership Camp (BioCamp) engages students around scientific advances and entrepreneurial opportunities
• The interactive program brought 70 university students from 24 countries and territories to Novartis headquarters in Basel, Switzerland
  • Elena Gross, Sarmishtha Sharma and Masatoshi Takara are the winners of  the case study competition
• Novartis cultivates an inclusive high-performance environment encouraging collaboration by championing high performing teams with diversity and inclusion

Basel, August 27, 2015 - Today, Novartis announced the winners of its twelfth annual International Biotechnology Leadership Camp (BioCamp), a three-day seminar bringing biotechnology and business experts together with 70 selected students from leading international universities in 24 countries and territories, originating from 31 different nations.

"This year's BioCamp is dedicated to collaboration - one of the core values of Novartis.  This year's winners demonstrated strong collaboration, which is essential for innovation in R&D," said Dhavalkumar D. Patel, MD, Ph.D., Head of Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) in Europe and Global Head of the Autoimmunity, Transplantation and Inflammation (ATI) Disease Area and President of the BioCamp Jury.

Based on their contribution, performance, leadership and teamwork, the jury has selected a winning team and three individual participants: Elena Gross, Sarmishtha Sharma and Masatoshi Takara are the winners of the 2015 edition and have won their tickets for a trip to discover Shanghai.

The winners agreed that the three days have been a rewarding experience:

• "The talks were very inspirational and working with such a diverse group has been a great experience. You learn a lot from each other, you motivate and push each other. This is what makes success." - Elena, student in clinical research, neurology at the University of Basel.
• "My biggest take away was working on the case study with 5 Ph.D. for over six hours. It's hard to work on a diverse team, but it's very rewarding." - Masatoshi, environmental science student at the University of Tokyo.
• "Solving the case study was fun, but what I enjoyed the most was interacting with people from various age group and various cultures." - Sarmishtha, student in Marketing, Finance and Operations at the Indian School of Business.

"The quality of the individuals was very high. I've been very impressed by the questions I received and the in-depth understanding that they already had," added Dhavalkumar D. Patel, MD, Ph.D. "BioCamp is important for Novartis because it allows us access to the brightest students in the world and I hope that this experience will open their horizons for their future careers - whether in academia or in the private sector."

Since launching BioCamp in 2004, Novartis has introduced more than 700 top graduate students to the life sciences industry and entrepreneurship. BioCamp is part of the Novartis commitment to supporting the exchange of ideas and thoughts between young talents in science and business and the Company.

The program is designed to help students understand trends and challenges in the biotechnology and life science sectors, interact with Novartis scientists and executives who lead the Company's approach to drug development, as well as gain first-hand experience about starting and running a biotech company. BioCamp students also visited some of the newest Novartis laboratory facilities on the visionary Novartis Campus in Basel, that fosters innovation and creativity with workspace that encourages collaboration and teamwork.

This year, workshops and presentations were led by industry experts including Joseph Jimenez, Novartis CEO; Dr. Dhavalkumar D. Patel, Head of NIBR Basel and Global ATI; Gesa Pellier, Head Global Patient Access; Prof. Kurt Wüthrich, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Prof. Susan Gasser, Director of the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research; Ann Aerts, Head Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development; Steven Baert, Novartis Head of Human Resources, as well as Prof. Patrick Aebischer, Chairman of the Novartis Venture Fund.

About BioCamp
Launched in 2004 in Taiwan, BioCamp has developed into an international forum for science and business students from around the world to learn, exchange ideas and work together in a highly competitive business environment. Previously hosted in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Cambridge, Massachusetts, today's seminar marks the sixth International BioCamp hosted at the state-of-the-art Novartis global headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.

Disclaimer
This press release contains expressed or implied forward-looking statements, including statements that can be identified by terminology such as "drive," "inspires," "hope," "will," "hopefully," "commitment," "visionary," or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Group regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such statements. These expectations could be affected by, among other things, risks and factors referred to in the Risk Factors section of Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update it in the future.

About Novartis
Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care and cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2014, the Group achieved net sales of USD 58.0 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.9 billion (USD 9.6 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 120,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are available in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

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