By Billy Gray

Novartis said it expected a key profitability metric to decline this year in large part due to increased competition in the U.S. from generic drug competitors.

The Swiss pharma major said Wednesday that it expects its core operating profit--one of its preferred metrics, which strips out exceptional items--for 2026 to decline by a low single digit. It expects low single-digit sales growth this year.

Novartis said in the performance update that in 2026, it would face the largest drug-patent expiry headwind in its history.

Three blockbuster treatments--Entresto, Promacta and Tasigna--lost U.S. patent exclusivity toward the middle of last year, which the group said was the primary catalyst of its guidance toward a short-term profitability fall.

Increased competition from generic competitors would generate a roughly $4 billion negative impact in 2026, Harry Kirsch, Novartis's chief financial officer, said in a call with reporters.

Fourth-quarter sales for the heart-failure treatment Entresto fell 45% on year at constant currency, to $1.25 billion, while Promacta sales for the period plunged 63% at constant exchange rates, to $226 million.

Net sales in the fourth quarter fell 1% at constant currency compared with the prior-year period, to $13.34 billion, the company said.

Still, Novartis reiterated that it expects sales to grow through 2030 at a compound annual rate of 5% to 6%. J.P. Morgan analysts said that would lead to a 9% consensus-estimate beat for 2030 sales that would require a number of successful treatment candidates in the pipeline.

Changes to U.S. drug pricing to most-favored-nations levels didn't have a material effect on 2026 guidance, Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan said.

The company said core operating profit for the year grew to $21.89 billion from $19.49 billion for the year prior, on sales that rose to $54.53 billion from $50.32 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had forecast $21.85 billion in core operating profit and $54.82 billion in sales.

Write to Billy Gray at william.gray@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2026 06:23 ET (11:23 GMT)

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