Novartis AG (NOVN.EB) said Friday it intends to spin off of its Alcon eye-care devices business into a separately traded company in a bid to focus more on innovative medicines, and announced a share buyback of up to $5 billion. The eye-care business, currently based in Fort Worth, Texas, will be relocated to Switzerland and publicly traded on the Six Exchange, with another listing in New York, the Swiss drugmaker said. Speaking during a conference call, Novartis Chief Executive Vasant Narasimhan said he sees a rapidly evolving technological landscape in which the company needs to concentrate its capital on using digital technology to drive cutting-edge medicine. The announcements come in the wake of Novartis selling its $13 billion stake in its healthcare joint venture to GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.LN) in March, as well as the acquisition of gene-therapy business AveXis for $8.7 billion in April. Mr. Narasimhan said the spinoff is tax-neutral and the best option for shareholders, who will have the possibility to hold shares in a leading opthalmology medical device company. He declined to give any estimates about Alcon's potential valuation. Alcon had more than $7 billion worth of sales in 2017, Novartis said.via