February 22 (SeeNews) - Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis plans to transfer assets worth 691.6 million euro ($736.8 million) of Slovenian subsidiary Lek to its other local unit, Novartis Slovenia, Ljubljana-based media reported.
Novartis will relocate Lek's manufacturing of solid products in Ljubljana, as well as active ingredients and biological drugs at a factory in Menges, to Novartis Slovenia, as part of the process of spinning off its Sandoz division, which includes Lek, public broadcaster RTV reported on Tuesday.
The list of Lek workers who will be transferred to Novartis Slovenia will be published shortly before the transfer takes place, RTV said, quoting from a divestiture agreement signed by the Swiss company.
The Ljubljana factory of Lek, where the company manufactures about 160 products for the generic pharmaceuticals market and for innovative Novartis drugs, has a workforce of about 3,270 employees, according to data from the corporate website of Lek.
Lek, which operates as a unit of Sandoz, also has about 1,260 employees at the Menges factory that produces several active pharmaceutical ingredients for Novartis' innovative drugs as well as generic active ingredients.
Novartis announced the Sandoz spin-off last year. The Swiss group aims to focus on hematology, oncology, immunology, neuroscience and cardiovascular treatments, while Sandoz will retain the generics and biosimilars division.
($ = 0.93864 euro)