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Will Pharma Split Spur Altana Into Action?

Altana AG announced in July that it would split out the pharmaceuticals division into a separately listed company sometime next year. The news followed a large acquisition in chemicals; but for pharma, the timing couldn't have been worse. Two key late-stage development projects suffered setbacks in the last 12 months, and there's little in the pipeline to replace them.

Altana AG announced in July that it would split out the pharmaceuticals division into a separately listed company sometime next year. The news followed the group's €630 million ($770 million) acquisition of German specialty chemicals firm Eckhart GMBH, Altana's biggest ever purchase and a deal which strengthened the chemicals division sufficiently to create an independent entity.

But the timing couldn't have been worse for the company's pharmaceutical division, where two key late-stage development projects suffered setbacks...

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