Novartis Mulls Disposing Its Non-Core Ophthalmology and Respiratory Units

Novartis AG NVS is reportedly weighing divesting non-core assets as it seeks to raise money to invest in cutting-edge medicines, people familiar with the matter said.
The pharma giant is in the early stages of considering options for its ophthalmology and respiratory units. Some private equity firms are already studying the businesses. Bloomberg noted that the ophthalmology business could fetch about $5 billion.
The people said that any sales of the ophthalmology and respiratory businesses are likely to begin in 2023 after a process for Sandoz is complete.
In August, Novartis announced its plans to spin off Sandoz, its generics and biosimilars division, into a new publicly traded standalone company.
Sandoz, which generated nearly $10 billion in sales last year, will emerge as Europe's leading generics company with key strategic areas of Biosimilars, Antibiotics, and Generic Medicines.
In September, the company revealed insights into the updated company strategy and said that a 'US-first' mindset, increasing the share of U.S. patients in clinical trials, and building capability and talent, among other actions, will enable Novartis to achieve this objective.
Novartis' aspiration is "to improve competitive positioning and organically build its U.S. business to become a top-five player in the U.S. by 2027."
Price Action: NVS shares are up 0.01% at $83.84 on the last check Wednesday.