Novartis to acquire majority stake in Alcon

pharmafile | January 5, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing Alcon, Novartis, eye care 

Novartis plans to gain a majority hold of global eye care leader Alcon, significantly boosting its presence in the sector.

The two companies’ product portfolios cover 70% of the global eye care sector across pharma, surgical products, contacts and OTC brands and Alcon will form the major part of a new Novartis eye care division.

The deal will see the Swiss pharma major fulfill terms of its April 2008 agreement with Alcon’s previous majority shareholder Nestle, paying $38.5 billion to acquire a 77% stake in the firm.

Novartis, whose current eye care interests include its CIBA Vision arm, will enter into an all-share direct merger with Alcon for the remaining 23% of the eye care company.

Novartis chief executive Dr Daniel Vasella said: “The addition of Alcon will strategically strengthen our healthcare portfolio and our position in eye care, a sector with dynamic growth due to the increasing patient needs of an ageing population.

“It will allow us to strengthen innovation power by combining R&D efforts and grow our global market presence thanks to our complementary product portfolios.”

The global eye care sector has become a growing element within the health services’ industry given the increase in an ageing population and an unmet need in visual care.

The Alcon merger announcement comes just two weeks’ after Novartis’ announcement of their acquisition of Corthera. that saw the company gain worldwide rights to the phase III project relaxin for the treatment of acute decompensated heart failure.

Related Content

Novartis shares new data about Fabhalta for IgAN treatment

Novartis has announced new results from a pre-specified interim analysis of its phase 3 APPLAUSE-IgAN …

chuttersnap-oijvdm3zx4i-unsplash

Novartis shares new data for Zolgensma in children with SMA

Novartis has announced new data to continue the support of the clinical benefits of Zolgensma …

Novartis to acquire MorphoSys AG for €2.7bn

Novartis has announced that it has entered an agreement to acquire MorphoSys AG for €2.7bn, …

Latest content