Novartis acquired a majority stake in Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical, one of the largest privately held vaccine companies in China. The acquisition gives Novartis an expanded presence in the Chinese vaccine market and will facilitate the introduction of Novartis's vaccines into the country.

"This agreement combines the strength of our vaccines research and development strategy and pipeline with Tianyuan's deep knowledge of the vaccines market in China," said Andrin Oswald, Head of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, in a statement.

According to the statement, Novartis will collaborate with Tianyuan to strengthen its vaccine portfolio and pipeline, as well as align production processes and quality standards. Novartis also added that it plans to explore new vaccine developments to address unmet medical needs in China.

"We have already identified several joint development programs that could be implemented in China over the next 10 years, with the potential of launching key products responding to unmet medical needs in the mid-term," said Ding Xiaohang, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Tianyuan, in the statement.

In related news, Novartis will eliminate more than 500 positions at its Horsham, United Kingdom site. The full story is available at BBC news.