TORONTO – Apotex Health Corp.‘s CEO says the generic drug maker expects to have more opportunities for growth as a public company, even though being publicly traded can come with more pressure.
“There is absolutely a different level of scrutiny as you enter the public markets, and a different level of governance and transparency. I think the organization prepared itself exceptionally well,” Jeff Watson said in an interview.
“It’s certainly something that was planned on, and we certainly look forward to being in the public markets now because it gives us greater opportunities when we think about growth moving forward.”
Watson said the company now faces an important “next chapter” as it ends its 52 years as a private organization.
He said the money raised from the IPO can be used to reduce debt and provide more flexibility on Apotex’s balance sheet.
“It’s really just positioning us for growth in the future … three quarters of those proceeds will find their way to positioning against debt,” Watson said.
Apotex announced Tuesday that it closed its upsized IPO at a price of $24 per share for gross proceeds of nearly $1.5 billion.
The IPO included a treasury offering, Apotex said, of 35,416,666 common shares for gross proceeds of $850 million and a secondary offering by certain shareholders of 26,875,004 shares for $645 million.
Watson said the company is pleased with the reception it has received from investors for the shares, which traded for $28.03 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday afternoon.
He says the company had been planning to be a Canadian-listed public company as part of its strategy spurred by a change in ownership in 2023.
Private investment firm SK Capital Partners completed an acquisition of Apotex in April 2023.
In March of this year, the company announced that Watson would take over as CEO after Allan Oberman stepped down. Watson had previously served as CEO from 2018 to 2023.
Watson said he welcomes any renewed interest in the Canadian health care sector, spurred by the company’s IPO.
“We think if this adds to that level of interest and activity in the health sciences sector here in Canada, I think it would only be a great thing for the country,” he said.
In May, Apotex received approval from Health Canada for a generic equivalent of weight loss drug Ozempic. Watson said the product is important for the company because it is a “peptide product” which shows its development capabilities.
“It’s also an important product for patients. We see the opportunity for savings in the health care system, and these are the kinds of products that we are focusing on and will continue to focus on,” Watson said.
“It’s been a great product for the company, and it’s been great to be the first Canadian pharmaceutical company to launch that product and see the building success that we’ve had over the past month or so.”
Toronto-based Apotex Inc. was founded in 1974 by Barry Sherman and gradually became a generic drug giant. The Canadian businessman and philanthropist was murdered in 2017 along with his wife, Honey Sherman.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2026.
Companies in this story: (TSX:APTX)
