A UNIVERSITY is in exclusive talks to buy the site of a top healthcare company to create a massive new campus.

The University of Brighton is in talks with Novartis over the purchase and development of the company’s former site in Horsham as a higher education centre catering for 3,500 students.

The university estimates the centre could create 2,250 new jobs and bring in £1.7 billion of investment to the region over ten years.

Exclusive negotiations are said to be at an early stage and subject to the “usual negotiations” for a development of this “size and complexity”.

The proposal has received the backing of Horsham District Council with leader Ray Dawe hoping the new facility will “stop the brain drain of the area’s talent”.

Novartis closed its operations at the Wimblehurst Road last year as part of a global restructure which saw more than 370 jobs leave the area.

At its peak the site employed around 900 workers but around 550 jobs were lost in 2011 in an earlier phase of moving operations to cheaper parts of the world.

The university said it held a longstanding interest in the Gatwick Diamond area dating back to 2007 and added that the area currently suffers from a lack of higher education provision.

University chiefs added that a large number of businesses and employees in the area could benefit from the professional development while the close proximity to Gatwick would make the site “very attractive” to international students. If successful, the new campus would be the university’s sixth with three already in Brighton and Hove and sister sites in Eastbourne and Hastings.

The project would also see a significant addition to the university’s already large, student population currently in excess of 20,000 students as well as its 2,700 staff and an annual turnover of £180m. University vice-chancellor Professor Julian Crampton said: “These discussions are at an early stage, but if the sale goes ahead, we plan to open an innovative, high-quality centre for higher education that will give a major boost to jobs, skills and business opportunities in the Gatwick Diamond area.”

A Novartis spokesman said: “This is still subject to the usual negotiations when trying to agree a contract, but the university’s proposal offers an exciting opportunity which could bring long term benefits to the town and local residents, as well as realise our ambition in leaving a scientific legacy at the site.”

Councillor Ray Dawe, leader of Horsham District Council said: “A university on the former Novartis site would be a fitting legacy for one of the largest healthcare groups in the world, and would bring a new dimension to what our district has to offer.

“We already know that we lose many students to higher education colleges elsewhere so the prospect of retaining our young people in the borough is very exciting.”