BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: NOVARTIS, MERCK AND BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB

More Q3 Earnings From Big Pharma Giants Top Wall Street Expectations Following Price Hikes Earlier In Year

As more Big Pharma giants announce third quarter earnings for 2023, price hikes continue to lead to Wall Street besting earnings and profits. This week, Novartis, Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb all reported results for the third quarter that topped Wall Street analysts’ expectations after hiking prices on products in their portfolios earlier this year.

Novartis

• Novartis reported Q3 earnings that beat Wall Street profit and sales expectations.
• The Big Pharma company reported sales of $11.8 billion in the quarter, up 12 percent.
• The company’s best-selling drug, heart treatment Entresto, brought in $1.49 billion for the quarter.
• Novartis’ other blockbuster drug, Cosentyx, an arthritis treatment, brought in $1.33 billion.
• The firm is eyeing its new cancer drug Pluvicto as a future blockbuster, after it brought in $256 million in the quarter. Analysts expect sales of the drug to reach over $2 billion in 2025.
• The company’s performance in the quarter was so strong, in fact, that they raised their full-year earnings forecast for the third time this year.

Merck

• Merck topped Wall Street earnings and sales expectations for the third quarter.
• Merck announced Q3 sales of $15.96 billion worldwide, driven by strong performance by the company’s pharmaceutical division, which was up 10 percent year over year.
• Cancer drug Keytruda brought in $6.34 billion, up 17 percent year-over-year, topping Wall Street forecasts.
• Merck’s HPV vaccine, Gardasil, brought in $2.59 billion in sales in the quarter, up 13 percent.
• The company raised its full year sales forecast for the year to just over $60 billion.

Brisol Myers Squibb

• Bristol Myers Squibb also reported third quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street analysts’ estimates.
• The drug maker reported revenue of $10.96 billion in the quarter.
• Sales of Bristol Myers Squibb’s cancer immunotherapy Opdivo rose 11 percent to $2.28 billion.
• Meanwhile, sales of the drug maker’s blood thinning medication Eliquis rose to $2.71 billion, up two percent year over year.

The strong earnings reports from all three drug makers follow price increases across the companies’ portfolios earlier this year.

Novartis

• Novartis hiked prices on over 70 prescription medications in January of this year, including breast cancer drug Kisqali by eight percent.
• The drug maker also increased prices on an additional 10 products this summer.
• Last summer, Novartis raised the price of Adakveo, a popular treatment for sickle cell disease for adults.
• Novartis began 2022 by hiking prices on more than 20 prescription drugs, including a seven percent increase on Kisqali.
• Novartis increased prices 20 times in January of 2021 and more than 30 times in 2020, including a seven percent hike on blockbuster psoriasis drug Cosentyx each year.

Merck

• Merck started 2023 by raising prices on more than 20 rescription 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.”
• Last December, 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.

Bristol Myers Squibb

• Bristol Myers Squibb 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.
• Price hikes last year were launched on two key cancer drugs, Opdivo and Revlimid, as well as blockbuster blood thinner drug Eliquis.
• Bristol Myers Squibb hiked prices on at least ten medications to start 2021.