By Marta Falconi
ZURICH-- Novartis AG is promoting a veteran manager to run its
Alcon eye-care division, a key move as the pharmaceutical giant
re-evaluates its sprawling portfolio of operations.
On Wednesday, Basel-based Novartis named Jeff George, who
currently runs Novartis's Sandoz generics business, to head Alcon,
the company's second-biggest division by revenue. Mr. George, who
has worked in several positions at Novartis since 2007, will
succeed Kevin Buehler from May 1. Mr. Buehler is retiring.
Novartis also said it had hired Richard Francis, a 13-year
veteran of Biogen Idec Inc., a biotechnology company based in
Cambridge, Mass., to run Sandoz.
The management changes come as Novartis conducts a top-to-bottom
review of its businesses that is expected to be completed by the
end of the year. The company is considering selling or partnering
its three smaller units--vaccines, over-the-counter treatments and
animal health products.
Novartis has already sold the bulk of its diagnostics business,
the unit which Mr. George initially joined, to Spain's Grifols SA
in a $1.68 billion deal that was announced in November.
Odile Rundquist, a health care analyst at Helvea, applauded the
moves, saying the executives were seasoned managers capable of
steering the two important franchises.
The appointments put "two strong leaders at the helm of two core
Novartis businesses," Ms. Rundquist wrote in a note.
Alcon, which makes everything from contact lenses to ophthalmic
surgical products, is one of three Novartis divisions that make up
the bulk of the company's revenue. Each generates sales of at least
$10 billion a year and is ranked No. 1 or 2 in its respective
fields.
Last year, Alcon generated $10.5 billion in sales, or 18% of the
company's total sales. Sandoz added another $9.16 billion, about
16%.
Pharmaceuticals, which include the company's big Diovan
hypertension drug and leukemia treatment Gleevec, generated about
$32 billion, or around 56% of the company's $57.9 billion in total
revenue.
Between 2009 and 2013, Mr. George boosted sales at Sandoz by
22.6%. By contrast, the company's overall revenue grew at 30.8%
during the period.
Write to Marta Falconi at marta.falconi@wsj.com
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