New consumer health company Haleon officially hit the market on Monday, completing a spin-off of pharma giant GSK’s consumer and over-the-counter brands.

First announced in February, Haleon will focus on five consumer-focused segments: therapeutic oral health; vitamins, minerals and supplements; pain relief; respiratory health; and digestive health. That includes brands such as Advil, Sensodyne, Centrum, Theraflu, Tums, ChapStick, Flonase and Emergen-C. GSK’s consumer portfolio has gotten more robust over the last seven years, following acquisitions from Novartis in 2015 and Pfizer in 2019.

At the time it was first announced, GSK CEO Emma Walmsley said the restructuring would help each company focus on unlocking their respective growth opportunities. The brands within Haleon had sales growth of 4.4% from 2019 to 2021, and plans for annual growth between 4% and 6% going forward.

Included in the strategy to drive more market penetration and share growth, Haleon plans to capitalize on opportunities including e-commerce sales, accelerated product innovation under its brands and “a strong focus on accelerating consumer trends,” such as natural products. It also plans to move at least two prescription brands to OTC.

The spin-off came after GSK rejected a Unilever bid to purchase the consumer health portfolio for 50 billion pounds. The announcement also came a few months after competitor Johnson & Johnson announced a similar consumer spin-off.

As Haleon began trading on the London Stock Exchange Monday morning, its valuation was placed well below Unilever’s bid, at 31 billion pounds.

Featured image by Tony Webster.