BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: AMGEN, GSK AND NOVO NORDISK

Major Pharmaceutical Companies Continue Growing Revenues While Sticking With Business-as-Usual Approach to Price Hikes

This week, three brand name pharmaceutical giants, Amgen, GSK and Novo Nordisk, announced their fourth quarter earnings, where each company increased revenue since the last quarter, following continued price hikes from all three drug companies over the last two years.

Amgen

• Amgen brought in $9.09 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, beating analysts’ estimates.
• The Big Pharma giant’s highest-selling drug, osteoporosis treatment Prolia, brought in $1.17 billion in Q4, a five percent increase year-over-year.
• Amgen’s cholesterol drug Repatha brought in $606 million in earnings, a 45 percent increase.
• Postmenopausal osteoporosis therapy, Evenity, rose by 36 percent to $431 million in sales.

GSK

• GlaxoSmithKline reported revenue of $10.4 billion for the quarter, up one percent year-over-year.
• The Big Pharma company’s asthma drug Trelegy brought in $837 million, up 14 percent.
• Additionally, specialty medicine, generic medicine and HIV drug revenue increased by 14 percent, one percent and 11 percent, respectively.
• GSK raised its 2025 guidance for the year, expecting sales growth between three to five percent.

Novo Nordisk

• Novo Nordisk recorded Q4 revenue above Wall Street expectations.
• The blockbuster drug company reported fourth quarter revenue of $11.6 billion.
• The company’s blockbuster GLP-1 drug Wegovy brought in $2.77 billion in sales during the fourth quarter, representing an increase of more than 97 percent year-over-year.
• Sales of the company’s other GLP-1, weight loss drug Ozempic, climbed seven percent to $4.71 billion for Q4.

These strong Q4 earnings reflect Big Pharma’s continued practice of increasing prices on their blockbuster drugs.

Amgen

• This year, Amgen has hiked prices for 23 prescription drugs by an average of five percent.
• Last year, Amgen raised prices on 36 prescription drugs, including a 6.9 percent increase on osteoporosis treatment Prolia as well as five percent price increases on autoimmune drugs Enbrel and Otezla.
• In 2023, Amgen raised prices on more than 20 prescription drugs, including on osteoporosis treatment Prolia and autoimmune drug Otezla by 5.9 percent each.
• A 2021 U.S. House Committee on Oversight report found that Amgen hiked prices of blockbuster drugs Enbrel and Sensipar to meet revenue targets.

GSK

• GSK has raised prices on 29 drugs so far this year, including an 8.9 percent increase on its Shingrix vaccine.
• Last year, GSK hiked prices on more than 25 prescription drugs, including its blockbuster Shingrix vaccine product by 7.9 percent and asthma drug Trelegy by three percent.
• In 2023, GSK hiked prices on more than 35 drugs, and in 2022, its increased prices on over 40 drugs.

Novo Nordisk

• Since January 2025, Novo Nordisk has increased the cost of 12 prescription drugs at an average rate of 4.7 percent.
• Last year, Novo Nordisk hiked prices on 10 prescription drugs, including a 3.5 percent increase on blockbuster weight loss drug Ozempic.
• In 2023, Novo Nordisk hiked prices on 11 prescriptions drugs, including a 4.9 percent increase on their best-selling GLP-1 drug Ozempic.

Read more on Q4 earnings from Johnson & Johnson HERE.

Read more on Q4 earnings from AbbVie, Novartis and Roche and HERE.

Read more on Q4 earnings from Merck and Pfizer 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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