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The CEO of Novartis said Wednesday that the Swiss pharmaceutical giant does not plan to enter into the "frenzy" of weight loss drugs, preferring instead to focus on areas where it can build a "unique position."

Speaking to CNBC, Vas Narasimhan said that the company was researching treatments that deal with the secondary effects of weight loss, but that it does not plan to compete directly with dominant obesity drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

"I think just to follow on the frenzy now would not be the right move for Novartis," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."

"With obesity right now, we have two very entrenched large players, and I think for future entrants you have to find something new, some sort of new angle that either reduces the nausea and the vomiting or gives patients the ability to lose their weight and retain their muscle," he said, highlighting existing work in such areas within Novartis' research labs.

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