(Bloomberg) --
Switzerland's Social Democrats want the government to buy Novartis AG's Sandoz unit to secure generic drug supplies, as the pharma giant weighs options for the business.
“Acquiring Sandoz would allow the construction of a company to serve the population, improve access to medicines, reduce future health risks and democratize research and development,” Samuel Bendahan, vice-president of the party said in a tweet.
Bloomberg reported last month that Novartis is working with Bank of America Corp. and UBS Group AG as it weighs a possible sale or spinoff of Sandoz. It could be valued at more than $20 billion as a standalone unit, people close to the situation said at the time, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Novartis has given itself until the end of next year to decide what to do with the business.
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The pandemic and the resulting disruption to global supply chains has highlighted how dependent Europe is on the rest of the world for pharmaceutical inputs.
Still, any nationalization of Sandoz is unlikely, not least because voters in cost-conscious Switzerland probably would reject the expenditure.
The Swiss also don't typically take strategic stakes in industries. They did not invest in Lonza Group AG, which makes Moderna Inc.'s Covid-19 vaccine in the town of Visp.
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