An executive from Novartis, one of the world’s largest drug companies, was in the Bay Area earlier this month to do a little shopping. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a newsworthy event.But his shopping list was a bit unusual.Dr. Flemming Ornskov, president of Novartis Ophthalmics, the company’s eye health care division in Basel, Switzerland, was looking to buy new medications to add to Novartis’ growing list of prescription drugs for eye disorders. And the Bay Area, with its super-abundance of biotechnology companies, is a great place for big pharmaceutical houses to shop for novel products still in development.
