Roche CEO: 'Extremely' open to talk with Novartis about teaming up

Finantial Times |  James Shotter in Zürich and Andrew Jack in London 

Roche’s chief executive has signalled openness to renewed co-operation with counterparts at his Swiss rival Novartis, in a sign of thawing relations between the two Basel-based pharmaceutical groups. 

Severin Schwan told the Financial Times in an interview: “If the right opportunity comes up, we would be extremely open to talk with Novartis as we would be with all the other players.”

His comments came just two weeks after Christoph Franz was named to replace Franz Humer as chairman of Roche, and a month after Jörg Reinhardt took over from Daniel Vasella as chairman of Novartis. 

Merck to slash 8,500 jobs in $2.5B global overhaul

 

Merck ($MRK) will cut 8,500 jobs from its R&D and commercial operations as part of a $2.5 billion global restructuring plan. The cuts come soon after Merck squeezed out its previous R&D chief to bring on Roger Perlmutter, who previously held that job at Amgen ($AMGN)--and amid major sales losses to generic competition.

The makeover also includes a shift in relocation plans. Rather than moving its headquarters to Summit, NJ, from Whitehouse Station as previously planned, the company will establish its home base in Kenilworth, on an existing Merck campus. Both the Summit facility and the Whitehouse Station headquarters will be shut down.

This restructuring is the fourth major sweep since 2008. Merck has shed many thousands of jobs and cut billions in costs over the past several years as it girded for its patent cliff--and scrambled to replace revenues drained off as key drugs lost exclusivity. One for instance: Singulair, once Merck's best-selling drug, saw sales plummet by 90% immediately upon patent expiration last year; the allergy drug brought in $618 million for the first half of this year, down from $2.8 billion for the same period of 2012. 

Germany's Bayer taps Pfizer's Olivier Brandicourt to head Bayer HealthCare

 
 

. Olivier Brandicourt

Bayer Group CEO Marijn Dekkers has high expectations for the growing Bayer HealthCare division, which makes up nearly half of the company's revenues. He has turned to a top Pfizer ($PFE) executive, 57-year-old Dr. Olivier Brandicourt, to realize those expectations. Brandicourt will assume the top job at Bayer HealthCare Nov. 1, taking over the reins from executive Wolfgang Plischke, who has been running the unit while the company found a new leader. 

"With Olivier Brandicourt we have found a strong leader with outstanding international experience and a successful track record in the healthcare industry," Dekkers said. "I am convinced that he can significantly contribute to the further growth of our healthcare business."