Novartis CEO says further buys are possible -paper

ZURICH, April 13 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NOVN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) could make more acquisitions after agreeing to buy Nestle's (NESN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) stake in eye care company Alcon (ACL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) earlier this week, the group's head said in an interview published on Sunday.

"One can assume that we will not do an acquisition on this scale and not in this area. Medium-sized acquisitions, which are not planned at the moment, would certainly still be possible," Chief Executive Daniel Vasella told Swiss newspaper Sonntag.

"Diagnostics is a business field worth expanding, so are vaccines and generics," Vasella said.

Novartis said on Monday it had agreed to buy Nestle's 77 percent stake in Alcon in a deal worth up to $39 billion to boost its eye care business.

Novartis is keen to broaden its business by growing areas like vaccines, eye care and generics, as traditional prescription drugs face increasing competition from generic medicines and a tougher path to markets.

Vasella also said the group's pharma division pipeline was promising and was on the right track to return to dynamic growth after the unit's sales were last year hit by competition from generics. (Reporting by Katie Reid, editing by Will Waterman)