Generic competition offsets Novartis’s 1Q sales, net income 15% down

Novartis’ has posted a first quarter net income down 15% citing a net charge related to the discontinuation of RLX030 ($-0.2 billion), as well as the decline in core operating income.

The company’s net sales were $11.5 billion (-1%, +2% cc) for the first quarter, with growth of of 7%, which was partially offset, according to Novartis, by the negative impact of generic competition (-3 percentage points) and pricing (-2 percentage points).

Novartis reported net income of $1.7 billion, saying that it was declining less than operating income due to higher income from associated companies.

Company’s CEO Joseph Jimenez said that this was a solid performance in the first quarter for Novartis. According to him, growth drivers, including Cosentyx and Entresto, more than offset generic erosion, mainly due to Glivec. “The innovation momentum continued in the quarter, led by the launch of Kisqali, and the FDA Priority Review for CTL019 in the US. This reinforces our confidence in our next growth phase, which we expect to start in 2018.”