Novartis is exiting drug discovery at its Shanghai site and shifting its focus to drug development, saying accelerating approvals in China are pushing the Swiss company to dedicate the operation’s resources to getting its medicines to market. The move marks an about-face from just three years ago, when Novartis had christened the USD 1 billion campus as its Chinese hub for early-stage research. About 150 of the more than 1,000 Shanghai staffers will lose their research jobs, while Novartis plans to add 340 new positions to develop up-and-coming drug prospects over the next four years, a period in which it expects to file 50 new drug applications with China’s regulator. The changes, first reported by website Fierce Biotech, were confirmed by Novartis, which said Shanghai’s role in coming up with new molecules would now be replaced by developing drug prospects, including early clinical development and trials, for the fast-growing Chinese market.