Novartis (NYSE:NVS) said today that it’s planning to spin its Alcon ophthalmology subsidiary into a publicly traded company after years of speculation that it wanted to sell the ill-starred division.
The Swiss pharma giant said it intends to hold on to Alcon’s $4.6 billion ophthalmic pharmaceuticals business under the Novartis Innovative Medicines umbrella, continuing a transition begun in January 2016. If consummated as expected during the first half of 2019, the separation of the remaining the surgical and vision care business would create a $7 billion enterprise with more than 20,000 employees, Novartis said.