I hope Novartis
In fact, I'd say Vasella has done a pretty good job diversifying Novartis. In addition to pharmaceutical drugs, the company now rivals Teva Pharmaceutical
Integrating Alcon will be left to Joe Jimenez, who currently heads Novartis' pharmaceuticals division, although Vasella will stay on as chairman and work on "strategic priorities." First, I imagine, he's going on a long vacation.
Back to the previous quarter's results, revenue was up 28% year over year, mostly because of sales of swine flu vaccine. The rest of the segments weren't slouches, though. Novartis' generics business contributed nicely thanks to an acquisition, and the consumer health segment was up 13% with the launch of 24-hour Prevacid. The latter should make sanofi-aventis
Novartis isn't cheap and trades at a premium to many of its diversified brethren like Johnson & Johnson