Novartis to split pharmaceuticals division into two

Novartis has announced that its pharmaceuticals division is to be broken into two separate business units.

The new Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Novartis Oncology business units will form an Innovative Medicines Division within the company. The separation of the units is indicative of the company's renewed focus on oncology, following the purchase of oncology assets from GlaxoSmithKline.

The leader of each business will join the executive committee of Novartis on July 1st. Paul Hudson has been appointed as chief executive of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, while Bruno Strigini will become chief executive officer of Novartis Oncology.

With these changes, David Epstein, the division head and chief executive of the current Novartis Pharmaceuticals business, has decided to leave the organisation. He has played a key role in building its oncology business and helped to oversee the launch of drugs such as Glivec, Gilenya, Cosentyx and Entresto.

Joe Jimenez, chief executive officer of Novartis, said: "We would like to thank David for his substantial contribution to the development and growth of Novartis and its people over many years."