Novartis announced that Gilbert Ghostine, currently CEO of Firmenich, has been appointed chairman-designate of the Sandoz board of directors.
The announcement comes as Novartis is planning to spin off Sandoz, its generics and biosimilars division, into a separate company headquartered in Switzerland. Ghostine will head Sandoz’s new board of directors.
Ghostine has worked at Firmenich since 2014, currently holding the CEO position. Prior to Firmenich, he was at Diageo, where he served as chief corporate development officer and president of India and greater China regions. Ghostine is already on two other boards of directors, including Danone and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts.
Novartis announced it will be spinning off Sandoz in August 2022, noting the move would “enable enhanced focus and the ability to pursue independent growth strategies.”
Sandoz plans to focus on its biosimilars pipeline which includes some eight marketed biosimilars and 15 molecules being currently explored, Novartis said. Its current biosimilars include drugs in endocrinology, immunology and oncology.
Earlier in this month, the Food and Drug Administration accepted Sandoz’s biologics license application (BLA) for a denosumab biosimilar aiming to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women as well as a variety of other conditions, including giant cell tumor of the bone.
“We are proud to be among the first to submit a BLA for a denosumab biosimilar as, if approved, it could increase patient access to an affordable, high-quality, potentially disease-modifying treatment across the U.S., while also delivering savings for healthcare systems,” Keren Haruvi, president of Sandoz and head of North America, said in a statement.
Sandoz has been a solid unit for the Swiss drugmaker, though it did report $9.6 billion in sales in 2021, a 2% decrease year over year, which included a 15% drop in the U.S. Last year, sales dropped even further to $9.2 billion.
The spinoff comes amid Novartis’ ongoing restructuring effort to reposition the pharma giant as a “focused innovative medicines company” that will concentrate on its five core therapeutic areas, including hematology, solid tumors, immunology, neuroscience and cardiovascular. Sandoz, meanwhile, is branding itself as the “#1 European generics company” and a “global leader in biosimilars.”
“For Novartis, the separation of Sandoz would further support our strategy of building a focused innovative medicines company, with depth in five core therapeutic areas, and strength in technology platforms,” Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said in a statement. “In addition, both companies would be able to focus on maximizing value creation for their shareholders by prioritizing capital and resource allocation.”
