In any case, he said, “we have to do our work internally first to be able to provide financial data to some of the interested parties,” adding that this could take time, even as much as a year.

In October this year Novartis suggested the the right time to divest Sandoz could be close as pressure on prices of off-patent drugs intensifies. Officially, Novartis’ timeline to wrap up a deal extends until the end of 2022. The activities potentially up for grabs accounted for $9.7 billion in sales last year, about a fifth of group turnover.

Narasimhan told the magazine that all options are in play, including keeping Sandoz – which no one believes –, spinning it off to shareholders or selling it to another company. In recent interviews, he has stressed that the drugmaker’s business priorities lie elsewhere. “What is clear is that we want to focus Novartis on innovative medicines,” he told WirtschaftsWoche.

The names of several prospective buyers for the generics business have circulated recently, including US biotechs Incyte, Intellia Therapeutics, Alnylam und Biomarin. Those willing to put the needed amount on the table could also include private equity companies. The hottest rumors focus on the Strüngmann brothers, backers of German Covid-19 vaccine maker BioNTech, making a $21.6 billion joint offer with Swedish investor EQT. The Strüngmanns in 2005 sold German generics manufacturer Hexal to Novartis.

As it moves toward streamlining its group structure, Novartis in 2019 spun off its Alcon eye care business and recently completed the sale of its nearly one-third voting stake in Roche back to the compatriot drugmaker.

Journalists and analysts have speculated on how management might want to spend the cash accumulated in the selloffs. At present, about 80% of Novartis’ annual sales revenue and 80-90% of its earnings stem from patented drugs to treat cancer, cardiovascular or genetic diseases. Beyond these, the CEO has said the company may look at immunology, neurology and hematology assets.

Any deal the pharma major cuts would not need to be a very large one, Narasimhan remarked. Most of Novartis’ acquisitions in the recent past have involved sums of less than one billion Swiss francs or dollars, he said.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist