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BLOOMBERG
Novartis AG is kicking off the sale of some ophthalmology assets, people with knowledge of the matter said, as it seeks to prune its portfolio and focus on growth areas.
The Swiss pharmaceuticals group is working with an adviser to gauge interest in the so-called front-of-eye treatments, the people said. The portfolio includes Xiidra, a drug used to treat dry eyes that generated $487 million in sales last year.
Novartis expects the assets to draw interest from both private equity and strategic bidders and has started reaching out to likely suitors, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Deliberations are ongoing and Novartis could still decide to retain the assets, they said.
Bloomberg News reported last year that Basel-based Novartis was considering options for all or parts of its ophthalmology and respiratory units. Under CEO Vas Narasimhan, the drugmaker has joined an industry-wide push to cast off low-growth businesses. It spun off its Alcon eye-care business in 2019 and is in the process of doing the same with its generic unit Sandoz.
The current ophthalmology portfolio sale doesn’t include Lucentis, a treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration that had about $1.9 billion in sales last year, the people said. A spokesman for Novartis said the company continually assesses opportunities within its portfolio to focus on the highest-value medicines. Novartis remains committed to ophthalmology with “both in-market products and breakthrough technologies being pursued in research and development,†the spokesman said.