U.S. Revenue: $19 billion (down 6.4%)
Global Revenue: $48.5 billion (up 0.4%)
Top Brands: Gleevec ($3.3B), Gilenya ($3.1B), Lucentis ($1.8B), Tasigna ($1.7B), Cosentyx ($1.1B)
R&D Spend: $9B (up 1%), 19% of revenue
Planned Launches: Kisqali (breast cancer)
Upcoming Patent Expirations: Afinitor, Tykerb
Following one of the most anticipated exclusivity losses of the decade, sales of Novartis cancer drug Gleevec slipped 28% in 2016 to $3.3 billion. But the real sting is waiting in the wings for the Swiss drug manufacturer. The company’s serelaxin program is idling in neutral while execs determine what to do following a trial flop in acute heart failure. The Phase III collapse was merely a distraction from investors’ true beef: What’s to become of Alcon? Company execs hope heart failure drug Entresto will rebound from a launch that fizzled, despite blockbuster expectations and talks of pay-for-performance arrangements with payers. Novartis followed up with another attempt to control costs by revealing a flexible pricing structure for newly approved breast-cancer therapy Kisqali, intended to help level the playing field with Pfizer’s market frontrunner Ibrance. Psoriasis treatment Cosentyx surpassed blockbuster threshold last year, securing a solid market stance ahead of J&J, Eli Lilly, and Valeant challenges.
