Sandoz Starts Trading in Final Step After Novartis Split

Sandoz Group AG, the maker of copycat medicines that was spun off from drugmaker Novartis AG, begins life as a standalone company on Wednesday when its shares start trading on the Swiss stock exchange.

The generics leader will now have more freedom to pursue its own growth strategy to challenge industry stalwarts like Viatris Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

The split caps years of efforts by Novartis Chief Executive Officer Vas Narasimhan to reshape the Swiss pharma behemoth into a nimbler company focused solely on innovative prescription medicines.

Sandoz’s lead in Europe, a less competitive and volatile generics ...