He stressed that ever since acquiring Lek in 2002 "we've invested more than two billion dollars in Slovenia", stressing they were building a new biologics manufacturing facility and some additional lines in Mengeš.

Apart from Lek, Novartis has another two companies in Slovenia, Novartis Pharma Services and Sandoz.

Narasimhan said the company was very committed to its presence in Slovenia at all four locations - also in Ljubljana, Prevalje and Lendava for the long-term.

"So I think we'll continue to look to expand these investments over time," he said in an interview for the STA as he was in Slovenia Tuesday to visit the facilities.

Narasimhan, who took over as CEO in February but has worked for Novartis for 13 years, sees Slovenia as an attractive investment destination.

He praised "very very talented, smart people who are in my experience very dedicated to our company" and was fascinated at how well they can speak English.

"Employees at every level of the organisation are able to converse in English, which makes it very attractive for a global company".

He also praised cooperation with the Slovenian government, saying "thus far our interactions with the government have always been very positive and encouraging to Novartis continuing to invest in the country".

He also said that as Novatis is expanding its biologics footprint, many of its developing programmes will be developed in Slovenia, where the company is already producing some of its most important medicines.

Novartis also plans to produce in Slovenia some of the medicines for which it is still waiting to get clearance.

As for a potential technological upgrade of the facility in Prevalje to introduce continuous production, he could not provide any details yet.

However, he said Novartis was making an assessment of its manufacturing footprint around the globe to see what the best manufacturing setup was.