BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB AND MERCK

Big Pharma Giants Conclude Latest Round of Earnings Reports Fueled by Egregious Price Hikes

Rounding out third quarter earnings reports for Big Pharma, two brand name pharmaceutical giants, Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck exceeded Wall Street expectations as both brand name drug companies continued hiking prices on blockbuster drugs this year.

Bristol Myers Squibb

• Bristol Myers Squibb blew past Wall Street analysts’ earnings and revenue expectations, bringing in $11.89 billion in Q3 revenue.
• The company’s blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis brought in more than $3 billion in sales for the quarter.
• Sales for the Big Pharma giant’s cancer drug Opdivo rose 4 percent year over year to $2.36 billion.
• Bristol Myers Squibb’s earnings report was so strong that the company raised its full-year revenue guidance, expecting a year over year increase of 5 percent.

Merck

• Merck reported Q3 earnings and sales that topped Wall Street’s expectations.
• The Big Pharma giant reported second quarter revenue of $16.66 billion, up four percent year over year.
• The company’s pharmaceutical division brought in $14.94 billion in Q3 revenue, up 5 percent from the same time last year, boosted by increased sales of its cancer drug Keytruda.
• Keytruda saw a 17 percent increase in the third quarter, earning $7.43 billion in revenue.
• Additionally, Merck’s HPV vaccine Gardasil brought in $2.3 billion in sales.
• The Big Pharma giant also reported a strong launch of its pulmonary arterial hypertension drug Winrevair, which brought in $149 million, beating Wall Street Analyst’ estimates of $129 million.

These strong Q3 earnings reflect Big Pharma’s continued practice of increasing prices on novel and blockbuster drugs.

Bristol Myers Squibb

• Bristol Myers Squibb kicked off the year by increasing prices on more than 10 prescription drugs, including a six percent increase on Eliquis, and another four that were higher than the 3.4 percent rate of inflation for December, the previous month.
• The pharmaceutical giant kicked off 2023 by raising prices on nearly 20 prescription drugs, including blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis by six percent.
• Bristol Myers Squibb began 2022 by hiking prices on more than a dozen prescription drugs, including two key cancer drugs, Opdivo and Revlimid, as well as blockbuster blood thinner drug Eliquis.
• Bristol Myers Squibb hiked prices on at least 10 medications to start 2021.

Merck

• Merck hiked prices on 21 prescription products in its portfolio in January 2024, including price hikes on 20 drugs outpacing the rate of inflation.
• Merck kicked off 2023 by raising prices on more than 20 prescription drugs, including blockbuster diabetes medicines Januvia and Janumet by 4.9 percent each.
• Merck’s blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda is on track to become “the highest-selling drug in the world and would be a Fortune 200 company on its own.”
• In December 2022, Merck announced plans to seek new patents on Keytruda to expand its existing patent thicket on the drug and further extend its monopoly power by blocking competition.
• Merck hiked prices on nearly 30 prescription drugs in 2022, including five percent increases on blockbuster diabetes medicines Januvia and Janumet.
• Merck increased prices 20 times in 2021 by an average of five percent.

Read more on Q3 earnings from Johnson & Johnson HERE.

Read more on Q3 earnings from Roche and Sanofi HERE.

Read more on Q3 earnings from AbbVie, Amgen and GSK HERE.

Read more on Q3 earnings from Novartis and Pfizer HERE.

Learn more about solutions to lower prescription drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.