Boxes of tablets, produced by Novartis AG, sit on a pharmacy counter.
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Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis said Thursday that it expects its Kisqali breast cancer treatment to be the following blockbuster drug inside its portfolio, because it looks to shift reliance away from its Entresto heart failure therapy.
Sales of Kisqali, which treats metastatic breast cancer, surged 64% globally on a continuing currency basis within the three months to June, the corporate said in its second-quarter sales report. That features 100% growth within the U.S.
It follows a 56% increase in Kisqali sales in the primary quarter to March.
Speaking on an earnings call, CEO Vas Narasimhan said Kisqali was the drug with the best scope for outperformance.
Global breast cancer diagnoses and deaths are projected to extend by 2050, based on the World Health Organization’s cancer agency, with 1 in 20 women worldwide expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer of their lifetime.
That might translate to three.2 million recent cases and 1.1 million deaths a 12 months worldwide by 2050 if current trends proceed, the study found — significantly higher than 2022’s 2.3 million recent cases and 670,000-related deaths.
Narasimhan also cited Novartis’ “strong pipeline” of other drugs, including its Pluvicto prostate cancer treatment and Scemblix for chronic myeloid leukemia, which he said was also “on target to be a blockbuster.”
“We proceed to drive strong performance on our ongoing launches for Kisqali, Pluvicto, and Scemblix, demonstrating the alternative power in our portfolio,” he added in a press release accompanying the outcomes.
The comments come as Novartis seeks to shake its reliance on its top-selling Entreso heart failure drug, which faces U.S. patent expiry next 12 months. Entresto brought in $7.8 billion in 2024, accounting for around 15% of the corporate’s overall global sales.
It said Thursday that it expects generic drug makers to start producing copycat versions of the drug by mid-2025, although that timeline is “subject to ongoing IP [intellectual property] and regulatory litigation.”
On Wednesday, a U.S. federal judge rejected Novartis’ request for a preliminary injunction to stop MSN Pharmaceuticals from selling a generic version of the drug before the patent expires.
Sales of Entresto rose 22% within the second quarter, consistent with the prior three-month period.
“Short-term it’s a very important product for us,” outgoing chief financial officer Harry Kirsch said of Entresto Thursday.
“We’ve IP that we’re defending. Should we achieve success in further defending our appeal, every month we’ll have some nice significant upside,” he added.
Overall, Novartis’ second-quarter net sales rose 11% on a continuing currency basis to $14.05 billion, just shy of the $14.18 billion estimated by analysts in an LSEG poll.
Quarterly adjusted core operating income, meanwhile, rose 21% to $5.93 billion, barely above the $5.69 billion expected.
Novartis said it now expects full-year core operating income to grow by “low teens,” up from “low double-digit” previously, while it retained its forecast for sales growth within the high single digits.
The corporate also announced an as much as $10 billion share buyback, citing “confidence” in its mid- and long-term growth.
