Mayor Susan Golding and Julie Meier Wright, president of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., will accompany local biotech executives on a trade mission to London and Switzerland this week.
The group first will visit the Swiss headquarters of Novartis AG, which has invested some $160 million locally.
The pharmaceutical giant will build two research centers , the Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute and the Novartis Institute for Functional Genomics , in San Diego.
In return for Novartis’ investment in San Diego, it received an incentive package worth $1.25 million.
The Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute is expected to bring 180 jobs , scientists dedicated to plant, seed and animal health research , to San Diego alone.
The center will be near the Novartis Functional Genomics Institute in La Jolla.
