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Novartis
to resurrect the Sandoz heritage
Ananth
Iyer - Mumbai
Novartis is reviving Sandoz - a popular, globally trusted
and heritage name the world was asked to forget following
its merger with Ciba. But public memory was not meant
to be short. Half a decade later, Novartis learnt that
the Sandoz name still means a lot to physicians, pharmacists
and patients and continues to be a synonym for trust
and quality.
This has prompted Novartis, the second largest generics
company in the world, to merge its 14 generics companies
- including Geneva Pharmaceuticals in the US, Biochemie
in Austria and Azupharma in Germany -under a single
global umbrella name Sandoz to leverage on its popularity
in a highly-competitive generics marketplace.
Christian Seiwald, CEO of Novartis Generics, explains
“We have achieved outstanding growth in recent
years and have made a number of strategic acquisitions
to become the second largest generics company in the
world. As a result, we have operated under an increasing
number of different brands without global identity or
recognition. Unified international branding sets a milestone
in our strategy to strengthen and harmonise our global
business. The Sandoz name underscores our reputation
for highest quality and innovation, adding more than
a century of heritage. We want Sandoz to become the
world’s clear number-one brand for affordable generic
medicines, and active ingredients.”
A Novartis spokesperson in India added that a definitive
timeframe for unification has not yet been fixed. But
a reliable and close associate of Novartis in India
said the harmonisation of the global business is likely
to take place this year. The rebranding exercise, however,
excludes Novartis’ Slovenian generics subsidiary
Lek, which, as agreed between the managements of the
two companies, will retain the name for the time being.
For the first nine months of 2002, the generics business
of Novartis saw 24 per cent increase in sales compared
to the corresponding period in 2001. The arm employs
11,000 people worldwide.
In India, Novartis carved out the generics business
in 2001 under the name Biochemie to align the local
business with the worldwide structure. The business
comprises industrial and retail generics business and
focuses primarily on anti-TB, gynaecology, anti-histamines,
antibiotics, anti-ulcerants, anti-diabetes and cardiovascular.
Sales from generics in India closed at Rs 122 crore,
which, according to Novartis India annual report, was
almost the previous year’s sales.
ananthiyer@express2.indexp.co.in
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