Novartis said it returned to sales growth in the second quarter, as momentum from some of its key medicines and recent launches helped the company offset a hit from drugs that lost patent protection.

The Swiss drugmaker, which in recent years sharpened its focus on innovative medicines by offloading other businesses like generic-drug maker Sandoz, is navigating what executives have called the biggest patent cliff in the company's history.

Heart drug Entresto--until recently Novartis's biggest moneymaker--went off patent last year, as did platelet-booster Promacta and leukemia treatment Tasigna. Competition from lower-priced generic products eroded the group's sales and put pressure on its bottom line.

The company expects core operating profit--one of its preferred earnings metrics--to decline by a low single-digit percentage this year as a result, an outlook it reiterated Tuesday.

To plug the gap, Novartis embarked on a buying spree that included its biggest acquisition in a decade, the $12 billion purchase of neuromuscular-drug developer Avidity Biosciences, as well as smaller deals.

Novartis is looking to expand its drug pipeline and plans to stick with its acquisition strategy of targeting mainly small deals while remaining open to larger transactions, Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan said on a call with reporters.

The company said it is focused on releasing over the coming months results of pivotal studies for an experimental drug from Avidity and other medicines that it hopes will boost its sales outlook over the medium and long term.

In the second quarter, growing sales from products such as cancer drugs Kisqali and Pluvicto, and multiple-sclerosis treatment Kesimpta, helped Novartis make up for the declines in medicines that lost patent protection.

Net sales for the second quarter were $14.41 billion, up 1% when excluding currency changes, the company said. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had forecast quarterly net sales at $13.96 billion.

Novartis said it still forecasts sales to grow by low single-digit percentage for the full year.

Net profit fell to $3.26 billion from $4.04 billion in the same period last year. Meanwhile, core operating profit was flat at $5.94 billion, against consensus expectations of $5.31 billion.

Shares in Novartis were up 1.9% in European afternoon trading.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 21, 2026 08:08 ET (12:08 GMT)

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