With the writing on the wall in recent years, Novartis is moving to formally exit one of its businesses in India.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Swiss drugmaker will transfer its 70.68% stake in Novartis India Limited\u2014a Bombay Stock Exchange-listed company that primarily handles older and off-patent drugs in areas like immunology, neuroscience and pain\u2014to a group of private equity firms, Novartis said in a Feb. 20 release<\/a> on its India website.\u00a0<\/p>\n The buyers include ChrysCapital Fund X, WaveRise Investments and Two Infinity Partners, Novartis India Limited said in a Thursday filing<\/a> (PDF) on the BSE. All told, the deal is worth<\/a> some $159 million, according to Reuters, broadly lining up with the $161 million value ascribed to the unit when Novartis announced a strategic review of the division back in February 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n The review came amid a refocusing on innovative drugs at the company, which notably spun off<\/a> its generics and biosimilars unit Sandoz in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n Apart from the nearly 71% holding conferred by the sale, the private equity purchasers have put out an offer to snap up another 26% of Novartis India shares from public shareholders, worth up to 5.52 billion Indian rupees (around $61 million) in total, a separate BSE filing from the buyers consortium shows<\/a> (PDF).\u00a0<\/p>\n While Novartis is parting ways with the India business responsible for many prescription, generic and over-the-counter medicines, it\u2019s not exiting the country altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n Specifically, the company will continue to operate its subsidiary Novartis Healthcare Private Limited, which \u201cincludes the commercial arm of Novartis in India,\u201d as well as a corporate center in the city of Hyderabad and R&D teams, according to Novartis\u2019 release.\u00a0<\/p>\n The sale of Novartis India Limited is expected to close in 2026\u2019s third quarter, its parent company said. Novartis India\u2019s share price spiked 20% on the BSE Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prior to the launch of the strategic review in 2024, Novartis India in 2022 struck a sales and distribution deal with Dr. Reddy\u2019s Laboratories in a bid to increase access to certain medicines, like pain relief drug Voveran and Methergine, which is used to treat severe bleeding from the uterus after childbirth.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the move was designed to wed Novartis India\u2019s manufacturing and development muscle with Dr. Reddy\u2019s sales and distribution reach, Novartis announced some 400 layoffs<\/a> in tandem with the team-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Novartis currently employs more than 9,000 people in the country, according to its Friday press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n The partial retreat from its India footprint comes as Novartis has\u2014alongside multiple other Big Pharma companies\u2014made significant pledges to expand its operations in the U.S.<\/p>\n Last April, Novartis joined a suite of drugmakers making U.S. manufacturing pledges in a bid to ameliorate the Trump administration\u2019s pharmaceutical tariff threats, committing<\/a> $23 billion to build and expand 10 American facilities over a five-year span.\u00a0<\/p>\n