(Reuters) – Catalent president and CEO Alessandro Maselli said on Monday he will stay on as the contract drugmaker’s chief after it is acquired by Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of weight-loss drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk.
Maselli’s open letter comes on the back of criticism over Novo Holding’s acquisition of Catalent, which U.S. consumer groups believe could threaten competition in weight-loss drugs and cutting-edge gene therapies.
Catalent will operate as an independent contract drugmaker even after the acquisition, Maselli reiterated, adding that he wanted to “correct a few key inaccuracies that have been reported” about the acquisition.
Several U.S. consumer groups and two large labor unions last week urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to block the $16.5 billion deal, which Novo Holdings has said would boost supply of Wegovy, Novo’s blockbuster GLP-1 injectable weight-loss drug.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)