Shareholders are scheduled to vote on Novartis’s planned spin-off of its Alcon eye care unit.

On Thursday, at the annual general meeting of Swiss drugmaker Novartis, shareholders came in heavily at the drugmaker for the hike in drug prices.

Novartis also won praise for its high-tech drugs and for providing new options to patients.

The increase in drug prices however may run into millions of dollars.

Actares, a Swiss shareholder group which owns a small percentage of Novartis shares stated, insurance systems are being “taken hostage” by sky rocketing prices for life-saving drugs.

As per Vas Narasimhan, Novartis’ CEO, drug pricing has been done on the basis of the value that they provide; also Novartis needs to recoup the investment it has sunk into research and development of drugs.

Shareholders will be voting on Novartis’s planned spin-off of its Alcon eye care unit.

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Tags: AGM, Alcon, annual general meeting, business, development, drug maker, drug prices, drugs, eye care, eyecare, high tech, insurance systems, investments, life saving, Novartis, research, shareholders, spin-off, Swiss, unit, Vas Narasimhan