Novartis takes $120m hit with product recall
NOVARTIS’S consumer health unit will take a $120m (£78m) hit in the fourth quarter after the Swiss drugmaker decided to voluntarily recall some products in the United States and move to improve quality standards at manufacturing sites.
Novartis said in a statement yesterday that operations and shipments had been temporarily stopped at the Novartis Consumer Health (NCH) Lincoln, Nebraska facility, to accelerate improvements at the site.
The group is recalling all lots of select bottle packaging configurations from retailers of Excedrin and NoDoz products with expiry dates of December 20, 2014 or earlier as well as Bufferin and Gas-X Prevention products with expiry dates of December 20, 2013 or earlier, in the United States.
Novartis said there had not been any adverse events reported. The products are being recalled due to an internal product review and complaints that identified issues such as broken gelcaps and chipped tablets.