Novartis AG Banks on Meningitis Shot to Justify "Oops" Deal; Restructuring, Disposal a Possibility: Analyst

Novartis AG’s (NOVN) troubled acquisition of Chiron Corp.’s vaccine business has one last hope -- approval of a shot to protect against a meningitis-causing bacteria. Winning European Union backing this year for Bexsero would help salvage the company’s vaccine unit, which it created with the $7.5 billion acquisition of Chiron. Failure, on the other hand, may prompt Novartis to sell or scale back the unit into which the company has poured billions of dollars in funding for little return. And years of delays have raised concerns that Bexsero may be the next to flop.