Novartis ‘committed to Alcon buy’

Novartis has emphasised its commitment to the purchase of a majority stake in Alcon, it emerged this week.

Company chief executive Daniel Vasella told Reuters that despite the global economic slowdown, the deal – which is to see Novartis buy a 77 per cent stake in Alcon from Nestle – would go ahead.

The first portion of the agreement, involving the buy of a 25 per cent stake, went ahead as planned, but “plummeting stock markets” made some question whether the next half would go through.

“You have to believe that the strategy is right,” answered Mr Vasella, speaking during an interview at the Novartis headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. “We will see how it will turn out,” he added, going on to mention that “great opportunities” for biotech assets were likely to arise because of the ongoing financial crisis.

Meanwhile, Novartis’ UK operations announced a development earlier this year when it said it would retain the use of wholesale distributors, AAH Pharmaceuticals and UniChem.

From August, these companies were used by Novartis to dispense medicines to community pharmacists and doctors, the company said.

Based in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis increased research and development investments by more than 20 per cent to $6.4 billion (4.3 billion pounds) over the course of 2007.