Novartis' new boss kicks off – with zero savings

He was reluctant to comment. Novartis boss Vas Narasimhan did not want to spend a lot of time yesterday with Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney, on yesterday's half-yearly conference call. "For me, the case is closed, we are focused on the future," he said. The question of whether there are pending requests from politicians or authorities in this regard, denied the Americans.

Since May, Novartis is in the line of fire, because the pharmaceutical company in 2017, the former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for 1, Hired $ 2 million. In addition to public criticism, the US Senate has launched an investigation into the case. The resulting report raises, among other things, the question of whether Novartis intended to influence Cohen's political decisions by the newly elected government of President Donald Trump

Involuntarily, the reputation of Novartis slipped on Narasimhan's priority list. February replaced Joe Jimenez as CEO of the group. The image of the company had already been battered by many cases of corruption before the Cohen case.

The United States remains a delicate area anyway. This shows the last episode on drug prices. So President Trump has criticized the Pfizer USPharmakenter and others because of the price increase of many drugs. As a result, Pfizer has announced that it will close and maintain prices for up to six months. Now, Narasimhan also announced that he would do the same thing to Pfizer: "In a rapidly changing political environment in the United States, we think it's wise not to raise prices this year."

Drought is over

By far the most important market for the pharmaceutical industry – where it generates 40% of its sales. Companies are earning more than average in the United States, because they have so far been limited in the prices of drugs. Price increases have been on the agenda for a long time, and the debate about them has only begun in the last presidential campaign

Novartis should be able to cope with the loss of revenue additional potential in the United States. After a long drought, the company recorded a 5% increase in sales in the first half, with operating profit up 17%. The reason is the increasing demand for Cosentyx's hopes against psoriasis and Entresto against heart failure. With these new compounds, Novartis aims to offset the decline in sales of other drugs by phasing out patent protection

Acquisitions and Sales

Narasimhan took a quick start in his first few months as a leader, having made many important decisions. Thus, the pharmaceutical company finally adopted the company with over-the-counter drugs and triggered the spin-off of Alcon eye care. At the same time, the American Indian roots also invested. For $ 8.7 billion, Novartis acquired the American biotechnology company Avexis in April. This develops gene therapy for a rare muscle disease. With the acquired business platform, Narasimhan hopes for other gene therapies such as neurology or eye diseases.

With these steps, Vas, as we call him internally, wants to focus more on Novartis. If Alcon is made public as scheduled next year, pharmaceutical and generic businesses, which operate under the Sandoz brand, will remain. This would complement the move from the general store with contact lenses, pet food and vaccines to a prescription drug and generic drug manufacturer. This process has already begun under Narasimhan's predecessor, Joe Jimenez. However, the cleaning of the portfolio was affected by President Jörg Reinhardt, who held this post for more than five years

. The main strategic lines were therefore already predestined before the entry of Narasimhan. But the various decisions made during his first few months show that he is not lacking in determination. Also in terms of staff, he put some accents. He has held several management positions with external managers. The head of the oncology sector, for example, comes from Pfizer, the development chief of Amgen and the Chief Digital Officer of Sainsbury & # 39; s British.

There is also a cultural shift in Narasimhan's priority list. Novartis is too hierarchical and too bureaucratic for the young manager born in 1976. "We want ideas to win, not hierarchies," he said earlier this year. He wants to strengthen the base, put more emphasis on the personal responsibility of the employees. For years, the group has been characterized mainly by digital thinking, so cultural change is a permanent task.