Sector News

Novartis CEO pledges not to sell Sandoz generics unit

July 29, 2019
Life sciences

Novartis Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan pledged in an interview published on Saturday not to sell the Swiss drugmaker’s generics unit Sandoz amid a revamp that has prompted speculation he is preparing to offload the business.

“No, we will not sell Sandoz,” Narasimhan told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. “We will make Sandoz autonomous within Novartis, so it’s more competitive. Our plan is to focus Sandoz and make it better in the long-term.”

Novartis is revamping Sandoz, a process Narasimhan has previously said will take roughly the next year and a half. He has already sold a generic U.S. pills business and dermatology assets that were under extreme price pressure, and has suggested other divestitures may be forthcoming.

These changes, along with the departure of Sandoz’s former CEO in March, have prompted some analysts to predict Narasimhan may eventually exit generics.

Sandoz, which last year had nearly $10 billion in sales, upgraded its full-year sales target on July 18, holding out the possibility of low-single-digit percentage sales growth, up from a previous prediction of “broadly in line” with 2018.

In the first half of 2018, Sandoz’s business with biosimilar copies of branded blockbusters in Europe helped offset a U.S. business that remains under price pressure.

Narasimhan also said he planned to keep both Sandoz and Hexal brands in Germany. “There will be no changes here,” he told the newspaper.

By John Miller

Source: Reuters

comments closed

Related News

December 3, 2023

FDA names chief scientist Bumpus as Woodcock’s successor

Life sciences

The Food and Drug Administration’s top scientist Namandjé Bumpus will assume the role of principal deputy commissioner when longtime agency leader Janet Woodcock retires from that role in early 2024, according to an announcement Thursday.

December 3, 2023

AbbVie to buy cancer drug maker ImmunoGen for $10.1 Billion

Life sciences

US biopharma AbbVie has agreed to acquire ImmunoGen in a deal which values the company at about $10.1 billion and gives AbbVie access to flagship cancer therapy Elahere (mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx), a first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) approved for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (PROC), as well as a pipeline of promising next-generation ADCs.

December 3, 2023

EuroAPI appoints new Executive Committee members

Life sciences

EUROAPI today announced the appointment of David Seignolle as Chief Operating Officer, succeeding Eric Berger, and Marion Santin as Chief Legal, Compliance, and IP Officer, both joining the company’s Executive Committee. In his new role, David Seignolle will lead the transformation of the Industrial Operations organization.

How can we help you?

We're easy to reach