Novartis AG has agreed to sell its nicotine patch, Habitrol, in order to win U.S. antitrust approval for a consumer healthcare joint venture with Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday. Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline had previously announced that they were creating the venture, and that Glaxo would purchase Novartis' vaccines business, excluding flu vaccines. Novartis would buy Glaxo's oncology drugs portfolio, the companies said in April.
Novartis AG provides healthcare solutions. The Company is a multinational group of companies specializing in the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of a range of healthcare products led by pharmaceuticals. Shares of NVS traded higher by 0.59% or $0.565/share to $95.60. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $76.36 and as high as $96.02. On average, 1384280 shares of NVS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 453888.
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