Novartis continues to ‘reimagine’ itself, as Alcon spin-off completed

Novartis has announced the completion of its Alcon eye care spin-off.

Last June, the Swiss drug giant announced plans to spin off its eye-care unit Alcon into a standalone entity after a strategic review concluded spinning off the business would be consistent with Novartis’ strategy of focusing as a medicines company.

The new standalone company is worth up to 28 billion Swiss francs, and Novartis shareholders each received one Alcon share for every five shares in the drugmaker they held at the close of business on April 8.

Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, said: "This is an incredibly exciting day for both Novartis and Alcon. Alcon has demonstrated consistent growth, and is coming to market from a position of strength. We wish them the very best for the future.

"At Novartis, we continue to reimagine ourselves as a leading medicines company powered by breakthrough medicines, data science and advanced therapy platforms. We are well positioned for the future and I am excited for our associates, our investors, and most importantly for patients."

Novartis released a statement, detailing that the successful execution of the spin-off allows the company to "fully focus its capital allocation and management attention on medicines. The spin-off gives Novartis a financial profile closer to its pharmaceutical industry peers, including higher group margins."

It went on to further state that it is "well-positioned for sustained top- and bottom-line growth and plans to improve Innovative Medicines core margins into the mid-30s by 2022."

The Alcon ophthalmology pharmaceuticals portfolio – which includes the potential blockbuster RTH258 (brolucizumab) for neovascular AMD and diabetic macular edema - will remain in house.

by Anna Smith

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