CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Swiss drug maker Novartis AG is planning to build a new facility in Cambridge to further develop its partnership with the universities in the city. Novartis has signed a long-term lease for property at 181 Massachusetts Ave., which is currently a two-acre parking lot owned by MIT. Although no final decisions have been made, the company is likely to build a research facility on the site. Mark Fishman, president of the company’s institute for biomedical research, tells The Boston Globe that the company is committed to the city and its partnerships with MIT, Harvard and area hospitals. Novartis already has about 2,000 employees split among several facilities in the city, where scientists are developing cancer and diabetes drugs.
