As you may recall, Novartis yesterday agreed to pay $39 billion, in two stages, for Alcon, which markets various eye-care products. In a chat with The Wall Street Journal, ceo Dan Vasella explains the decision. This is an excerpt of an excerpt…
WSJ: How does Alcon fit into your strategy?
Vasella: It fits perfectly well. From the [...]

Dan has found a new way to justify to shareholders his continued presence as both ceo and chairman of Novartis - he is saving them money. Speaking at the drugmaker’s annual general meeting, he defended his dual role by saying that separating the two jobs would be inefficient and costly.
In companies where the jobs are [...]

Novartis ceo Dan Vasella met with analysts this morning to review finances and, in a sop to anxious stockholders, agreed to treat them like risk-free coupon clippers. So he says 100 percent of free cash flow, after dividends and acquisitions, could be available for share buybacks, compared with only 50 percent in the past. Right [...]

In a brief, or at least tightly edited, chat with The New York Times, the Novartis ceo comments on the American health care system; Michael Moore’s SiCKO (no, he hasn’t seen it); the cost of meds and the cost to develop them, and the FDA. Here is an excerpt…..
NYT: Is the United States becoming a [...]

The Novartis ceo says he will switch hundreds of millions of dollars in planned investments from India to other locations, primarily, China, in the next few years in response to an Indian court ruling that he says weakens intellectual property rights on new meds.
In an interview with The Financial Times following the rejection this month [...]

Dan Vasella may propose that Joerg Reinhardt, who is currently head of vaccines and diagnostics as his successor, according to an article in Swiss weekly SonntagsZeitung, Thomson Financial reports. With shrinking margins, pressure on its stock price and drug setbacks, Novartis could use a breath of fresh air, the report said. Vasella has been criticized [...]

THE United Nations plans to establish a dedicated unit that will be headed by Vasella, the Novartis ceo, and reportedly will be staffed by security experts from around the world. The UN declined to comment. But Vasella has reportedly agreed to head up the unit, although the 53-year-old will remain with the drugmaker.
His participation is [...]

For now, on talks are under way to snap up a rival with the $5.5 billion from the sale of Gerber baby food to Nestle, says the Novartis ceo.
“No, in that sense there is no concrete project at this time … patience pays off, because an acquiring company runs the risk of paying too much [...]

Behind every ceo, great or otherwise, is a flack. Dan Vasella, for instance, has Kathy Bloomgarden, the Ruder Finn ceo and his personal gatekeeper, to help him explain and spin when the need arises.
But Bloomgarden is trying to grab her own sliver of spotlight these days in order to promote a new book called, “Trust,” [...]