Novartis chairman rules out merger with Roche: paper

Swiss pharma group Novartis (NOVN.VX) will work more closely with rival Roche (ROG.VX) but rules out a merger, its chairman said in a newspaper interview on Sunday. Asked whether the two companies wanted to stay independent, Joerg Reinhardt, who took over as Novartis chairman in August, told Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung: "Absolutely." He said, however, that he'd met outgoing Roche Chairman Franz Humer a few weeks ago and was also exchanging emails with his successor Christoph Franz. Both Roche and Novartis are based in Basel in north-western Switzerland.

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