Pharmaceuticals unite with mission to open up access to better health
Viatris, a new healthcare company, recently announced to begin trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol VTRS.
The move came after the merger of pharmaceuticals Mylan and Pfizer Upjohn, a division of Pfizer in July 2019.
The United States-headquartered drugmaker aims to empower people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life by expanding access to medicines and providing people with more products and services through innovation.
The launch of Viatris is the culmination of more than a decade of strategic and thoughtful work to build a global company with the breadth and depth to provide more efficient access to high-quality medicines for patients and healthcare systems around the world, said Robert J. Coury, executive chairman of Viatris.
“I am extremely confident about the opportunities ahead for Viatris and the value we expect our company will create for all stakeholders; from our patients and employees, to customers and shareholders,” Coury said.
Viatris said it remains committed to returning capital to shareholders with an expected dividend of at least 25 percent of free cash flows. This is based upon generally accepted accounting principles, operating cash flow less capital expenditures, beginning after the first full quarter of Viatris’ operations, with the expectation to grow the dividend thereafter.
The new company said it has a global product portfolio involving more than 1,400 approved molecules. These cover a wide range of therapeutic areas such as noncommunicable and infectious diseases, complex generic and branded medicines and biosimilars.
With more than 45,000 employees in sectors such as research and development, quality control, manufacturing and regulations, Viatris can provide services to patients in more than 165 countries and regions. It has established global centers in cities including Pittsburgh in the US, Shanghai, China and Hyderabad in India.
Viatris CEO Michael Goettler said: “We commence our journey armed with an experienced and diverse management team, a strong financial profile and an enviable global infrastructure.
“We are building a performancedriven, highly engaging and inclusive culture with colleagues united by a shared purpose in Viatris’ mission to help empower people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life,” Goettler said.
“As we come together to form Viatris, we will begin immediately to ensure the new company is optimally structured and efficiently resourced to deliver sustainable value to patients, shareholders, customers and other stakeholders,” Goettler said.
Dedicated to producing medicines to treat different diseases, Viatris is also a provider of antiretrovirals to treat HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.
“Our unique position to increase access to healthcare and address unmet needs is grounded in our bestin-class scientific, regulatory, manufacturing and supply chain capabilities along with our commercial reach across markets and channels,” said Rajiv Malik, president of Viatris.
“We believe our combined commercial capabilities and diverse portfolio across geographies will enable us to strengthen our ability to reach more customers and patients,” Malik said.
“We expect to leverage these enhanced strengths to build strategic partnerships that are critical in helping reduce barriers to access and good health and have the potential to leave a lasting, positive impact on patients, families and communities worldwide,” he added.
I am extremely confident about the opportunities ahead for Viatris and the value we expect our company will create for all stakeholders; from our patients and employees, to customers and shareholders.”
Robert J. Coury, executive chairman of Viatris