Novartis increases its investment in Roche Holding AG to just under one-third of Roche's voting shares.
Lek Pharmaceuticals, a Slovenian generic pharmaceuticals company, is acquired by Sandoz for USD 900 million.
Associated British Foods acquires the Food and Beverage Business Unit as part of a decision by Novartis to divest the Health and Functional Food business.
Novartis unifies and strengthens its global research network by creating the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), headquartered in the US.