"I don't see any major acquisitions for at least the next two or three years," said the head of the division, board member Stefan Oelrich, in an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Tuesday edition). Although there is a small budget for the purchase of further licenses, the company's priority is now to reduce its debt after acquisitions in the last five to six years, in which eight to ten billion euros were invested.
Oelrich also emphasized that there is no reason to split up the group, whose business extends from agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter health products. "As long as the structure does not hinder the individual businesses in our respective markets, there is no reason to dissolve it. We operate with three very independent businesses," Oelrich explained. "In the pharmaceutical business, we are no longer among the top five in the world, but in this business, it is not size that matters, but innovation."
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Oelrich also said that he expects the pharmaceutical division to grow again from 2027. New drugs should make up for the expected decline in sales due to the loss of patents, for example for the blood thinner Xarelto.
"Therefore, we expect 2025 and 2026 to be negative years for Xarelto," explained Oelrich. "We hope to be able to compensate for this loss, and as soon as this effect is offset from 2027 onwards, we expect to see growth again for the entire portfolio."
(Report by Patricia Weiß and Anneli Palmen, edited by Olaf Brenner. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economics) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)