BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: ABBVIE, NOVARTIS AND ROCHE

Big Pharma Giants Report Higher-Than-Expected Q4 Earnings Amid Continued Price Hikes, Point to Role of DTC Boosting Sales and Patent Games Delaying Competition

Last week, brand name pharmaceutical giants AbbVie, Novartis and Roche reported fourth quarter earnings that all beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations. The Big Pharma giants reported strong earnings after collectively hiking prescription drug prices 126 times last year.

During Novartis’ earnings call, the brand name drug company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) boasted the company had confidence they would be able to wield patent gamesmanship to further delay generic competition to blockbuster heart failure drug Entresto.

When asked by a Bank of America analyst, “how confident are you can hold off Entresto generics” and noting that potential generic competitors are “trying every which way to launch,” CFO Harry Werner Kirsch responded, “we would expect continued good growth of Entresto… our colleagues in the legal and IP department will do everything to appropriately defend further patents.”

During the same call, Novartis’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vasant Narasimhan also affirmed concerns shared by health care experts and policymakers that direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising drives higher utilization, and sales, of high-priced brand name products, stating “…it takes six months for DTC to have an impact.”

Get the full rundown of Novartis, and fellow brand name drug makers’ AbbVie and Roche’s, expectation-beating earnings bolstered by egregious pricing and anti-competitive practices here:

AbbVie

• AbbVie’s fourth quarter earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations for the second quarter in a row. The company reported sales of $15.1 billion for the quarter, up 5.6 percent year over year and beating Wall Street analysts’ expectations of $14.83 billion.
• Despite numerous biosimilar competitors now available in the market, the blockbuster arthritis drug Humira still brought in a staggering $1.68 billion in sales.
• Arthritis drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq earned $3.7 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively, beating Wall Street Analysts’ expectations.
• The Big Pharma giant raised its annual profit forecast for 2025 following its strong Q4 performance.

Novartis

• Novartis reported Q4 earnings that topped Wall Street analysts’ expectations.
• The Big Pharma company reported sales of $13.1 billion in the quarter, up 16 percent year over year and beating analysts’ expectations of $12.79 billion.
• Sales for Novartis’ multiple sclerosis treatment Kesimpta rose by 50 percent, bringing in $950 million.
• The Big Pharma giant’s strong performance was fueled by heart treatment Entresto, the company’s best-selling drug, which brought in $2.18 billion, a 33 percent increase from a year earlier.
• Breast cancer drug, Kisqali, generated $902 million, representing a quarterly sales advance of nearly 50 percent.
• Due to a strong Q4 performance, Novartis is forecasting a rise in profit guidance to start the year.

Roche

• Roche reported earnings for the fourth quarter, beating Wall Street analysts’ earnings estimates.
• The Big Pharma company’s sales rose seven percent in 2024 to $66.6 billion, aided by growth in both its pharmaceutical and diagnostics sales divisions.
• This marks the third consecutive quarter the Big Pharma giant reported nine percent sales growth.
• Roche’s popular eye medication, Vabysmo, generated $4.3 billion in Q4 – a surge of 43 percent year over year.
• Roche’s top-performing drug for 2024 was its multiple sclerosis treatment Ocrevus, which grew by nine percent, bringing in nearly $6.11 billion in sales.
• The Big Pharma company expects continued growth in 2025.

The strong earnings from these Big Pharma giants follow their continued practice of increasing prices on blockbuster drugs within its portfolios, many outpacing the rate of inflation.

AbbVie

• To date in 2025, AbbVie has already hiked prices on 16 prescription drugs, including Skyrizi by 5.7 percent and Rinvoq by five percent.
• AbbVie increased prices on 19 prescription drugs in 2024, including a 5.8 percent price increase on Skyrizi and 5 percent increase on Rinvoq.
• AbbVie hiked prices on 40 prescription drugs in January 2023, including eight percent increases each on the company’s blockbuster autoimmune drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq.
• In 2022, AbbVie increased prices on more than 40 prescription drugs.

Novartis

• This year, Novartis has increased prices on 54 prescription drugs, including Entresto by 2.5 percent and Kesimpta by seven percent.
• Novartis increased prices on 72 prescription drugs in its portfolio in 2024, including arthritis treatment Cosentyx by seven percent and heart treatment Entresto by three percent.
• In 2023, Novartis hiked prices on more than 70 prescription drugs in its portfolio, including Entrestos by five percent and Kesimpta by seven percent.
• Novartis began 2022 by hiking prices on more than 20 prescription drugs, including a seven percent increase on Kisqali. That summer, Novartis increased prices on another 50 prescription drugs across its portfolio.

Roche

• As its sales have climbed, Roche has repeatedly hiked prices on prescription products in its portfolio. Roche has increased prices on 25 prescription drugs so far in 2025, including Ocrevus by 4.7 percent, Vabysmo by 2.5 percent and Xolair by 2.2 percent.
• Last year, the Big Pharma company increased prices on 35 prescription drugs.
• In 2023, Roche increased prices on at least 22 prescription drugs in its portfolio.
• A report released in late 2019 found that Roche’s price hikes on the popular drug Rituxan were not supported by innovation or improvements and cost U.S. taxpayers $806 million.

Read more on Q4 earnings from Johnson & Johnson HERE.

Stay tuned as we continue to monitor fourth quarter earnings calls from brand name drug companies in the coming weeks.

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

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