Novartis

The former prime minister accompanied his request with a supplementary memorandum that includes new data revealed in Parliament, suggesting that these specific witnesses, along with their lawyer Pavlos Sarakis, had financial benefits from the Novartis case, an element that is incompatible with their protection status.

Mr. Samaras’s Statement:

Generics producer Sandoz is planning to invest roughly US$90 million at its site in Ljubljana to establish a dedicated centre for development of biosimilars by 2026. As part of the process to spin off from Novartis, Sandoz holds part of the Slovenian pharmaceutical company Lek.

Pharmaceutical giant Novartis has so far invested just over EUR 3.4 billion in Slovenia and together with the purchase consideration for Lek the figure amounts to over EUR 5.4 billion. This proves that Novartis is committed to staying active here, says country president of Novartis Slovenia Aymeric Royere.

Four former executives of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis and a former politician were cleared on Monday of bribery and direct complicity in the offense, as part of a probe into allegations that doctors and public officials had accepted kickbacks from the company in a period spanning 2006 to 2015.

The examination of the witnesses before the special tribunal on the responsibility of ministers ended on Tuesday and will resume on January 23 with the testimony of the former head of the Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Eleni Touloupaki.

Novartis, the Swiss owner of the Ljubljana-based pharmaceutical company Lek, and its Chinese supplier Porton Pharma Solutions, will set up a biotechnological park in Mengeš, central Slovenia. Novartis will lease part of its vacant premises to Porton in what the N1 news portal reports will create 300 new jobs.

The former ruling New Democracy party MEP, and publisher of the free newspaper Free Sunday, George Kyrtsos, in a post on Twitter, condemned the prosecution of two journalists, Costas Vaxevanis and Gianna Papadakou, and a prosecutor, Eleni Touloupaki.

He said EU funds for Greece were at risk of being cut when the rule of law is violated, comparing Greece with Poland and Hungary.

Ljubljana – Lek, a Novartis-owned Slovenian drug maker, is planning an EUR 82.6 million investment in Ljubljana to set up a new production facility for liquid vials and pre-filled syringes. The government is expected to subsidise it with EUR 6.56 million, according to working documents prepared for government sessions.

Switzerland's ambassador in Ankara said Nov. 24 that the international community aims to leave a sustainable world for children and future generations.

"We aim for a sustainable planet and a sustainable economy," Jean-Daniel Ruch told a meeting - Rethinking sustainable development: The social, environmental, economic value behind the healthcare industry - held in Ankara.

A relevant magistrate in the financial crimes prosecutor's office on Tuesday extended, by two years, the protected status for two controversial witnesses who had leveled allegations against 10 top office-holders, including past prime ministers, of receiving kickbacks from Novartis' Greek subsidiaries.