Consumer healthcare company Haleon has said it wants to help healthcare professionals achieve positive health outcomes, upon completion of its demerger from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) yesterday (18 July).

Haleon - maker of Sensodyne toothpaste, as well as Voltarol and Panadol – said that it recognises that, 'despite huge improvements in medicine, data and technology, everyday health remains elusive for too many people’.

It said it aims to change this 'by working to remove barriers to better everyday health, and aiming to empower 50 million people a year by 2025 to be more included in opportunities for better everyday health’.

Tess Player, VP global head of expert/health professionals at Haleon, said partnering with health professionals is a ‘top priority’.

Haleon said collaboration with health professionals has revealed some of the barriers they are facing, including 'a lack of education in patient communication, behaviour change and emerging technologies, as well as a lack of time and recognition from peers, policymakers, and even patients at times’.

It said that 'these insights will feed into some significant new programmes and developments aimed at the health professional community,' including launching the new Haleon HealthPartner portal.

It added that the portal will include professional education, practical tools, news services, community building and awareness campaigns.

GSK had announced the creation of Haleon in February, due to ‘successful investments and strategic changes’ to GSK’s consumer health business. This includes the integration of the consumer product portfolios from Novartis and Pfizer.

It also described the demerger as the most significant corporate change for the company in 20 years, and said it will now focus purely on pharmaceuticals.