Novartis highlights company transformation, catalyst-rich pipeline, and strong progress on strategy at Meet Novartis Management investor event - Seite 2

Novartis is one of the leading Oncology companies with growth opportunities in Targeted Therapy, Cell Therapy, Radioligand Therapy and Immunotherapy. Oncology returned to growth in 2018 and the pipeline and portfolio are well positioned for future growth. Oncology has a rich portfolio with seven in-market blockbusters, three recent launches with blockbuster potential and a strong, unique pipeline across the platforms. By integrating the best internal and external innovations, Novartis is positioned to continue to lead in Oncology.

The Global Drug Development (GDD) team provides insight into the catalyst-rich pipeline that contains more than 25 potential blockbusters. Novartis has multiple 2019 pipeline milestones, including six major readouts that have the potential to accelerate Novartis' growth trajectory. These 2019 readouts include Pharmaceuticals Entresto (HF-pEF) and Fevipiprant (asthma) and in Oncology the first combination with the Novartis PD1, spartalizumab (PDR001). GDD is building out advanced therapy platform capabilities to complement small molecules and biologics. The team is focused on operational execution with extensive use of data and digital technologies to reduce trial time and cost and improve productivity.

Our rich late stage pipeline is fuelled by a steady flow of emerging assets from the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR). NIBR is a leading center of therapeutics discovery research with a proven record of delivering innovative therapies. Novartis has a deep pipeline of ~90 new molecular entities prioritized and optimized for transformative potential and resourced for competitive advantage. NIBR is deploying a suite of advanced technology platforms in an effort to drug targets that were previously considered "undruggable". A focused research strategy, accelerating the most promising internal and early external opportunities, is helping NIBR deliver transformative innovation and curate a first-in-class portfolio.

In Sandoz, management provides an update on its continuing transformation and the evolving generics landscape. While the US market is being impacted by pricing pressure, approximately 70% of Sandoz sales come from outside the US where sales are growing and driving margin expansion. Sandoz is shaping its portfolio to drive sustainable and profitable growth, including the divestment of the US oral solids and dermatology portfolio planned to complete in 2019. Sandoz is a leader in Biosimilars with 8 on the market and 10+ in the pipeline. The division is becoming leaner and more agile to drive sustainable sales and margin growth in a rapidly-moving generics environment.