Indian portion of GSK-Novartis swap approved by GSK board

The board of directors at GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) voted to approve the last phase of a three-part deal with Novartis ($NVS), transferring GSK's cancer drug portfolio to Novartis Healthcare Pvt, its Indian arm. Distribution rights were ceded in exchange for acquiring the Swiss-based company's vaccines portfolio.

In a financial filing, GSK said it expected the deal with Novartis to be profit-neutral, but it also reported that its stock fell 61.24 percent during the last quarter of 2014 as various aspects of the transaction were taking place. GSK blamed "supply constraints."

The arrangement, which remains subject to approval by regulatory and other authorities, was reached nearly a year ago when the two agreed to swap vaccines for cancer drugs and related research-and-development activities.

- see more at NDTV/Press Trust of India

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