⁍ Novartis joined rivals Merck, Johnson & Johnson and Roche in predicting the worst of the pandemic may be over for drugmakers.
⁍ The Swiss company nudged up its 2020 profit guidance on Tuesday, now expecting operating income growth in a low-to-mid double-digit percentage range.
– Pandemics aren’t going away any time soon, but drugmakers are starting to see signs that the worst is over, Reuters reports. On Tuesday, Novartis joined Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and Roche in nudging up its 2020 profit guidance, now expecting operating income growth in a low-to-mid double-digit percentage range, compared with a low double-digit rate forecast previously. The Swiss company nudged up its 2020 profit guidance on Tuesday, now expecting operating income growth in a low-to-mid double-digit percentage range, compared with a low double-digit rate forecast previously. Merck also raised its profit outlook on Tuesday, following Johnson & Johnson, while Roche last week stuck to sales forecasts and predicted a rebound from pandemic disruptions would continue. While Novartis CEO Vasn acknowledged COVID-19 could still derail 2020 goals, he said hospitals, doctors, and patients had learned from painful lockdowns earlier this year that delayed treatment and hit drug sales. “There’s a strong desire not to repeat that,” he said, adding US healthcare systems appear to be “a bit more resilient” in maintaining services than in Europe as the second COVID-19 wave intensifies. Novartis’ third-quarter core net income climbed 8% to $3.47 billion, above analysts’ mean forecast of $3.32 billion. However, sales rose just 1% to $12.3 billion, missing a $12.7 billion forecast. Other firms echoed Novartis’s view, even as global COVID-19 cases rise by more than 400,000 a day and some countries see intensive care units at capacity within weeks.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-novartis-results/novartis-upbeat-as-drugmakers-see-hospitals-coping-with-covid-idUSKBN27C0MF