Thirty years ago today, the merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz brought together two of Switzerland’s most storied companies and created something new: Novartis.
Approved by the European Union Commission on July 17, 1996, it was among the largest corporate mergers of its time. More importantly, it united companies whose histories stretched back more than 250 years and whose generations of scientists and innovators saw possibilities where others did not.
The result was a company that redefined what medicine could achieve—and continues to do so today.
Novartis was built by people who were willing to do things nobody had done before. In fact, many of the biggest advances in medicine began with questions no one knew how to answer. The same courage and curiosity that drove over 250 years of innovation around the world continues today and into the future for patients.
Vas Narasimhan, Chief Executive Officer of Novartis
From dyes to discoveries
The story began long before 1996.
In the nineteenth century, Basel’s chemical and dye industries became a proving ground for discoveries in chemistry and biology that would eventually help shape modern medicine.
Novartis predecessor companies carried those discoveries into healthcare, expanding from dyes and chemicals into pharmaceuticals as new scientific opportunities emerged.
When those companies came together to form Novartis—a name inspired by the Latin novae artes, or “new arts, new skills”—they brought with them generations of expertise and a determination to push beyond what was possible.
Over the next three decades, that mindset helped turn ideas once considered out of reach into realities for patients.
Along the way, Novartis pioneered one of the first targeted therapies in cancer, brought the first approved cell therapy to patients around the world, advanced efforts to combat malaria, and helped bring gene therapy from a scientific promise to a reality for families affected by a rare genetic disorder.
These advances helped change expectations for diseases that had long been difficult to treat and opened new paths for patients, health care professionals, and researchers.
None of those advances were obvious at the start. Each began with the willingness to go first or a belief that science could go further. People saw possibilities where others saw obstacles and pursued them anyway.
Today, that same spirit continues to guide Novartis.
The company is tackling some of the most challenging diseases, while continuing to advance newer approaches to medicine like radioligand therapy (RLT), gene and cell therapy, and xRNA, so more patients can benefit.
With RLT, for example, Novartis helped transform this breakthrough from a promising concept into a commercially available therapy and continues to advance its potential today, with ongoing efforts to reach more patients and explore its use in more cancers.
Pursuing what’s possible
Discovery only matters if it makes a difference in patients’ lives.
Novartis has helped expand the reach of innovative medicines, advance disease awareness, and support earlier diagnosis and treatment by coming together with like-minded partners—whose experiences help define what matters most.
“Lasting progress is built over time through a shared purpose and a willingness to tackle challenges together,” said Pat Garcia-Gonzalez, co-founder and CEO of The Max Foundation, a global health nonprofit that has partnered with Novartis since 2001 to broaden the reach of cancer medicines. “As Novartis marks 30 years, we are proud to continue working alongside them and others to help expand care, strengthen health systems, and improve the lives of people around the world. And we look forward to even broader collaboration and deeper impact in the years ahead.”
Thirty years after its founding, Novartis continues to explore some of medicine’s toughest unanswered questions, building on generations of scientific curiosity and discovery while looking toward what patients may need next.
The tools may have changed. The science has advanced. And researchers can now explore possibilities that previous generations could scarcely imagine.
Yet the challenge remains familiar: finding new ways to tackle the hardest-to-treat diseases society is facing.
More than 250 years later, the work of reimagining what’s possible continues.
