The boss who wants to take the firm solo
RECKITT Benckiser’s 12-year-old pharma business is like a child ready to fly the nest, its chief exec Shaun Thaxter told City A.M. yesterday.
“This is a natural evolution – as the business has become bigger, more sophisticated and more complex,” said the British boss who is based in Virginia. “The visibility, risk and reward profile are more those of a speciality pharma firm.”
And as the firm leaves the parent group, Thaxter expects to keep up its focus overseas.
“The US business will continue to grow. Twelve million people abuse opiods annually in the US and 2.5m of them need treatment for addiction. We have 450,000 patients in treatment,” he said. “It is tragic from a public health perspective, but structurally it is a strong market with headroom.”
“For every $1 spent on treatment, governments save $12 in other costs you would incur had the patient not moved into treatment.”