GSK-Novartis global transaction to benefit Sri Lanka vaccines sector

Saturday, 26 July 2014 04:59 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A major three-part global transaction between GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis AG will generate benefits for consumers in Sri Lanka, particularly in the sphere of vaccines, GSK Pharmaceuticals Sri Lanka said this week. GSK’s position as the leading provider of vaccines to the domestic private market, to which it supplies vaccines that prevent 14 infectious diseases, will be consolidated further with the strengthening of its vaccine portfolio in new areas such as the prevention of Rabies and Meningitis, the company said. Comprising of a swap of more than $ 20 billion in assets and a partnership in consumer healthcare, the GSK – Novartis transaction is expected to be completed during the first half of 2015, subject to approvals. GSK will acquire Novartis’ global

Vaccines business (excluding influenza vaccines), divest its marketed Oncology portfolio, related R&D activities and rights to Novartis and together create a new world-leading Consumer Healthcare business in which GSK will have majority control with an equity interest of 63.5% under this transaction. It is projected to increase GSKs annual global revenues by £1.3 billion to £26.9 billion (on a 2013 pro forma basis) and fundamentally re-shape GSKs revenue base. These revenues would be split across Pharmaceuticals (62%), Consumer Healthcare (24%) and Vaccines (14%). “Implementation of the transaction across countries in which the two companies operate will take time, but we are eagerly looking forward to the multiple benefits that will accrue to the key segments in which we are active,” said Stuart Chapman, Managing Director of GSK Pharmaceuticals in Sri Lanka. “In the area of vaccines, there will be many opportunities for more patients to benefit from quality vaccines at affordable prices.” He said the transaction strengthens GSK’s offering to patients and consumers globally, enabling the company to expand its portfolio to both help treat illness and prevent disease, and broaden its scope to improve human health with the acquired R&D and innovation expertise. “GSK and Novartis’ Vaccines R&D organisations are highly complementary, bringing together respective expertise in virology, bacterial infection and different adjuvant platforms. The new business would have more than 20 different vaccines in development, including assets to prevent hospital and maternal infections and diseases prevalent in developing countries such as malaria and tuberculosis,” Chapman said. He disclosed that GSK vaccines are included in immunisation campaigns in 170 countries worldwide and that in 2013, GSK delivered 862 million vaccine doses, over 80% of them for use in developing countries. On completion of the transaction, around 70% of GSK’s revenues would be focussed around four key franchises: Respiratory, HIV, Vaccines and Consumer Healthcare. All of these franchises operate in growing markets with new and market-leading brands and products manufactured in protected technologies. One of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, GSK and its predecessors have been doing business in Sri Lanka since the late 1930s. Globally, 1,100 prescriptions are written for GSK products every minute, and around 45 people receive a GSK vaccine every second. GSK is the only pharmaceuticals company to tackle the three ‘priority diseases’ identified by the World Health Organization (WHO): HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.