On the heels of announcing a restructuring plan that would do away with approximately 8,000 positions, Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) is reportedly considering spinning off its Sandoz generics arm.

The company is likely to make a final decision by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg.

Given the sluggish state of the economy, Novartis is likely to pursue spinning off its generics business.

The roots of Sandoz stretch back to 1886 as a die maker known as Kern & Sandoz. The company began manufacturing a fever-reducing drug known as antipyrin in 1895, expanding production to encompass ergotamine for migraines by the 1920s.

The Sandoz business unit is worth approximately $25 billion.

In October 2021, Novartis announced that it had begun a strategic review of its Sandoz business unit.

“We continue to view Sandoz as having the potential to be the leading generics company in the world, driven by its biosimilars’ presence and strength as well as key success factors,” said Vasant Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, in a Q1 earnings call on April 26. “Overall, our strategic review remains on track, and we would plan to provide an update on

the strategic review at the latest by the end of this year.”

Earlier this year, media reports concluded that various private equity firms, including Blackstone and Carlyle, were interested in purchasing Sandoz. In addition, the German paper Handelsblatt reported that the brothers Andreas and Thomas Strüngmann and the Swedish investment firm EQT also aimed to buy the generics maker. Andreas Strüngmann

The private equity climate, however, has worsened amidst concerns about inflation and the war in Ukraine.