Swiss pharmaceutical major Novartis AG announced on February 16 a strategic review of its subsidiary Novartis India Limited. The public listed company is set to undergo an assessment, encompassing various aspects, including Novartis AG's 70.68 percent shareholding in the Indian entity.
"There can be no assurance that the strategic review of Novartis India Limited will be completed in 2024, or that the outcome would result in the implementation of any transaction," Novartis AG said in a press statement.
Novartis said it remains "deeply committed to India" with a footprint that has expanded significantly in recent years. Today, Novartis employs more than 8,100 associates in the country.
Novartis India Limited is separate from Novartis Healthcare Private Limited, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Novartis group in India, according the parent company's press statement. Novartis Healthcare Private Limited includes the Novartis Corporate Center in Hyderabad, the commercial arm of Novartis in India, and R&D teams, which currently conduct clinical trials at more than 300 trial sites in the country. The strategic review will not impact Novartis Healthcare Private Limited.
Novartis has had a footprint in India since 1947, with two legal entities namely, Novartis Healthcare Private Limited, and Novartis India Limited.
Late in January 2024, Novartis India had said its Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Murdeshwar will resign from the company, with effect from April 2, 2024.
Murdeshwar said that this was the right time “to pursue a new direction for myself," for “achieving different personal and professional goals which have evolved over time”, he said in his letter. Murdeshwar’s exit is the third such in about six years.
The drugmaker posted a Rs 26 crore profit in the quarter ended December 2023, compared to Rs 7.6 crore in the corresponding period last year. Total income stood at Rs 106 crore in the quarter under review, compared to Rs 88 crore last year, in the same period.
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