The Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) is the innovation engine of Novartis. We collaborate across scientific and organizational boundaries, with a focus on powerful new technologies that have the potential to help produce therapeutic breakthroughs for patients.

Researchers have used the standard tools of biology and chemistry to develop many successful treatments, and we’ll continue to use them. However we recognize that these tools leave many drug targets—key proteins and nucleic acids known to play a role in disease—out of reach. We would like to hit these targets to fight diseases, many of which have dodged the conventional molecules in our arsenal. To address this challenge, we are blazing a new path: organizing our early discovery efforts around a scientific discipline called chemical biology.

Chemical biology brings together experts from different fields—including biology, chemistry and computer science—to create new types of molecules and use them to probe biological systems. Our teams are increasingly breaking down barriers between fields to make progress toward tackling difficult targets. For instance, one team includes biochemists, structural biologists and others, all working to invent molecules that will influence the cell’s own system for degrading proteins. The goal is to degrade particular proteins that we can’t hit with conventional molecules.

NIBR is a global organization of approximately 6,000 scientists, physicians and business professionals from around the world that offers many opportunities for individual professional growth and development. We promote the type of “flexible thinking” required in a diverse, innovative research organization. 

We focus our resources on developing medicines and devices that can produce positive real-world outcomes for patients and healthcare providers.