Novartis reports strong performance amid the health crisis

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis posted double-digit growth figures in the first quarter of 2020: net sales +11%, operating income +22% and net profit +13%.

In particular, net sales reached US $12.3 billion compared to $11.2 billion in the first quarter of 2019. Novartis reports that Covid-19 resulted in increased forward purchasing of medicines, pushing up sales by an estimated $0.4 billion.

“We continue to deliver our medicines to patients and advance our innovative pipeline as reflected in our strong operational performance in Q1,” commented Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan. “While there are many uncertainties for the coming year, we are maintaining our full year outlook at this time and will continue to play our part to overcome the pandemic.”

Image credits: novartis