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Biotech / Medical : PARANOID! TIRED OF TALKING TO YOURSELF? LET'S TALK(TTP) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scott H. Davis who wrote (381)	7/18/1999 9:57:00 PM
From: Arthur Radley	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 626

TTP and Novartis at the wedding altar would be nice. Novartis Seeks To Increase U.S. Business Reuters Sunday, July 18 1999 01:58 AM EDT ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss life sciences company Novartis is looking to increase its business in the fast-growing U.S. market, possibly through acquisitions, Chief Executive Daniel Vasella said in remarks published Saturday. Vasella also said in an interview with the Swiss Finanz und Wirtschaft newspaper that spinning off Novartis' agribusiness division was a possibility, although such a move was only speculation. ''The market which is growing fastest is the United States. Our business volume there is about half the size of our largest American competitors, which is a competitive disadvantage for us. Of course we want to change this,'' Vasella said. Asked whether a takeover was possible in the United States, the chief executive said: ''A takeover is only one possibility of many. Another possibility is the acquisition of products or the expansion of the marketing and sales organization. We will start with the latter.'' Vasella said Novartis was always open for acquisitions which made sense. ''If you look at our organization, then I would say that we would certainly be able to handle an acquisition,'' he said. Turning to Novartis' agribusiness division, the weakest of its three businesses, Vasella said it would not be sold. ''No, we will not sell. A simple sale would not be in the interest of shareholders, because the agricultural sector is at a cyclical lowpoint,'' he said. Asked whether agribusiness might be spun off, Vasella said: ''That would be a possibility. But I want to say clearly that this is speculation.'' The chief executive also repeated that Novartis was seeking a U.S. listing. ''There are discussions, but they have not yet been completed,'' he told the paper, but gave no further details. Vasella said Novartis expected about five percent sales growth in its pharmaceuticals business this year and in 2000. ''In 2001 the speed of growth should increase. But the prerequisite is that the new products Zelmac, Starlix and Amdray, which will come on the market in 2000, successfully complete the last clinical tests which are still required,'' he said. The world pharma market is growing at around eight percent a year. All three drugs Vasella mentioned are in the late development stages. Zelmac is for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, Starlix is for diabetes and Amdray for leukemia. Novartis Thursday reported first half sales, with total sales rising to 16.31 billion Swiss francs, up one percent from 16.2 billion, with pharma sales up six percent. Sales in the agricultural division fell by nine percent in local currencies in the first half to 4.78 billion francs.