The Novartis Foundation was a scientific and educational charity, formed in 1949 by the Swiss company Ciba, now Novartis, and dissolved in 2008. It was the direct successor to the Ciba Foundation, and the changed name (Novartis Foundation) reflected the new name of Ciba, after merging with Sandoz. The Foundation was the brainchild of Robert Käppeli, Managing Director (and later President) of Ciba. The purpose of the institution was to promote collaboration in the medical sciences by the organisation of symposia which would allow experts of different fields to share ideas. Symposia took place both at their London premises and also in locations across the globe. Later these discussions were written up by in-house editors and published by John Wiley & Sons, with whom the foundation had a long-standing relationship.
