Novartis Completes Sandoz Spin-off

On Oct 4, 2023, Novartis announced it has completed its plan to spin-off Sandoz, its generics and biosimilars business, into an independent company. The spin-off took place through a dividend-in-kind distribution to holders of Novartis shares and American Depositary Receipts (ADR), which was held at the close of business on Oct 3, 2023. Holders received one Sandoz share for every five Novartis shares, or one Sandoz ADR for every five Novartis ADRs. Novartis stated that this spin-off will allow it to finish its journey to becoming a leading, focused medicines company.

Novartis is now focused on four core therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, immunology, renal and metabolic, and oncology. The company plans to tackle high disease burden, as well as the possibility of major growth, in prioritized areas of the United States, China, Germany, and Japan. Novartis wrote that several major in-market and pipeline assets in those therapeutic areas will enable it to follow through on its plans.

While Novartis has two established technology platforms, chemistry and biotherapeutics, it plans to prioritize three next-generation platforms: cell and gene therapy, radioligand therapy, and xRNA. These prioritizations reflect its ongoing investment into novel R&D capabilities and manufacturing scale, shown in Novartis’ pipeline of 150 projects in clinical development.

“This is a truly historic moment for Novartis and Sandoz, as we begin new chapters as independent companies (. . .), and I am confident [Sandoz] are poised to deepen their impact on patients and society,” said Vas Narasimhan, M.D., CEO of Novartis, in a Novartis press release. “We are entering this new era with strong financial performance and R&D momentum, and I’m more confident than ever in our ability to reimagine medicine for and with patients around the globe.”

Source: Novartis