Viatris Inc Q1 2021 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Gregory B. Gilbert - Truist Securities, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : Just making sure that your comments about potentially updating guidance next quarter comes from a position of strength, just in case there's any investor confusion about why you decided to say it that way. And then, Michael, I think it's a strategic question, perhaps. I think it's pretty clear to investors why companies like Merck and Pfizer and others decided to divest or separate their legacy businesses to reduce complexity, to focus on REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MAY 10, 2021 / 2:00PM, VTRS.OQ - Q1 2021 Viatris Inc Earnings Call innovative activities, et cetera. But how would you describe to investors the value proposition of a story like yours? Maybe some angles that The Street may not appreciate from your perspective as a long-time operator within one of these companies, not sort of just we need to beat estimates and maybe get a value rerate. But what are some of those real value propositions from an operational point of view that you sense folks don't understand?

Question: Gary Jay Nachman - BMO Capital Markets Equity Research - Analyst : Michael, what do you expect the pace will be securing partnerships in various regions for the Global Health Care Gateway? Are there already a lot of discussions ongoing with different parties? How long before you really start to execute on that? And in what regions do you think would come first? And then secondly, the $1.5 billion of cost to achieve synergies, is there a chance that will come below that this year? And how much will those costs come down next year? Just want to get a sense of how everything is going on that front and the impact to cash flow, if you were conservative or if that's really the accurate assessment at this point?