Novartis is moving its infectious diseases headquarters from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Emeryville, California, the San Francisco Business Times reports. The drug company has not yet announced the number of people it will employ in California.

Novartis, which is based in Switzerland, has hired Dr. Don Ganem of the University of California at San Francisco as the vice president and global head of infectious disease research.

Company spokesman Jeff Lockwood said Novartis employs 120 people in its Cambridge unit.

"It was an opportunity to grow in an area where we had some capacity, and there's a strong talent base in infectious disease research," Lockwood said.