Novartis positions Barcelona as global hub for biomedical innovation

Novartis has built Centres of Excellence in Barcelona that bring together more than 700 professionals – about 42% of the company’s staff in Spain – representing 53 nationalities. Over half of the positions (55.4%) are held by women, with women making up 51.9% of senior roles. The centres combine traditional medical research with artificial intelligence, data analytics and software engineering to develop advanced therapies such as gene and RNA‑based treatments.

Catalonia now hosts 203 international tech centres, generating an annual economic impact of €4.109 billion and employing over 46,000 people. The region is ranked fifth worldwide for foreign investment in health‑tech, attracting €2.382 billion in the last five years. Spain ranks fourth in Europe for pharmaceutical employment, with roughly 60,000 direct jobs.

Novartis’ Barcelona operations support global drug supply chains, forecasting needs for more than 80 countries, coordinating pharmacovigilance and managing logistics for radioligand therapies, thereby influencing health systems worldwide.