Skip to main content

Novartis subsidiary Alcon is now an independent company

| News

Novartis subsidiary Alcon is now an independent company

09.04.2019

Novartis completed the spin-off of the Alcon eye care devices business through a dividend-in-kind distribution. The Basel pharma giant reports it is now positioned for sustained growth and announced the launch of potential blockbusters.

Basel bridge Novartis Campus Rhine River Innovation Business

The successful execution of the spin-off of Alcon allows Novartis to now fully focus on its medicines, the Basel pharma company reported in a press release. This will also lead to higher group margins. In particular, it plans to improve the Innovative Medicines divisions, in which Novartis is aiming for core margins into the mid-30s by 2022. After granting shareholders a dividend of 2.85 Swiss francs per share for 2019, it plans to pay a “strong and growing annual dividend” in future. The share buyback of up to US$ 5 billion announced in June 2018 is expected to be completed this year.

For achieving sustained growth going forward, Novartis is looking to launch ten potential blockbusters in the next two years.  A blockbuster is a drug with annual sales of at least US$ 1 billion. The company also has an additional 20 potential blockbusters on the horizon.

Shares in the spin-off eye specialist Alcon are now listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange. The company was valued at around US$ 27 billion on flotation. “This is an incredibly exciting day for both Novartis and Alcon,” said CEO Vas Narasimhan in the Novartis press release. Alcon has achieved continuous growth and gone public from a position of great strength. “At Novartis, we continue to reimagine ourselves as a leading medicines company powered by breakthrough medicines, data science and advanced therapy platforms.”

Share this article

Sign up to receive our newsletter in your inbox.

You might also be interested in

The power of a persuasive pitch deck

Are you an entrepreneur striving to secure investment for your biotech startup? Start with an effective pitch deck to catch...
Read More

Roche investing an additional 1.2 billion Swiss francs in Basel

Roche will be putting an additional 1.2 billion Swiss francs towards the renovation of its site in Basel. This investment...
Read More

Nouscom secures 67.5 million euros in financing

Biotech company Nouscom has raised 67.5 million euros in a series C financing round. The Basel-based firm intends to use...
Read More

Celebrating six months of innovation: i4Challenge accelerator New Ideas 2022/2023

On the 5th of July 2023, the 3rd iteration of the i4Challenge accelerator program New Ideas came to its conclusion....
Read More

How open innovation in healthtech hubs is fueling the rise of digital healthcare

How the ever-increasing uptake of digital solutions is enhancing patient engagement, increasing access to care and lowering the cost of...
Read More

How to access the U.S. market with your medical device

In one of our latest Venture Mentoring events by Basel Are Business & Innovation, we invited Nila-Pia Rähle to speak...
Read More

Do you have a question? We'd like to hear from you.