Novartis Oncology will put more focus on drug research and on developing targeted treatments of the diseases, which worst afflict Chinese, at its newly inaugurated R&D center in Shanghai, said company President Bruno Strigini in an interview with China Daily.

"It'll be a state-of-the-art facility with top notch researchers," he said. The center, opened earlier this month and created at a cost of $1 billion, is one of the global pharmaceutical company's three major R&D centers worldwide. The new center builds upon Novartis' past 10 years of R&D activities in Shanghai and will have 300 researchers.

"The center will be committed to meeting specific health demands in China," Strigini said. "We are paying great attention to China with its abundant talent and rapidly growing market."