Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG will focus on its debts before undertaking any big purchases following its acquisition of eyecare group Alcon Inc , Novartis's chairman was quoted as saying on Saturday. The Basel-based firm spent much of last year trying to clinch 100 percent ownership of Alcon and has finally sealed its $50.9 billion buy by paying Alcon's minority shareholders an extra $463 million in cash. [ID:nLDE7370N4] "Now it's about cutting back on the debt burden somewhat before we can undertake new big buys," Chairman Daniel Vasella told Swiss newspaper Blick. "But smaller bolt-ons are surely still possible in the near future."
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