World’s most expensive medicine boosts Q3 growth for Novartis

The new muscle disease treatment, Zolgensma, known as the world’s most expensive medicine, has emerged as one of the main growth products for Novartis.
The Swiss company disclosed this on Tuesday as it presented its third-quarter earnings in Basel.
The one-dose gene therapy for children with spinal muscular atrophy was approved by United States (U.S.) regulators in May and carries a price tag of $2.1 million.
Zolgensma delivered $160 million in revenues between July and September, Novartis said, revealing sales figures for the product for the first time.

Half of the Zolgensma patients switched from a rival medication made by the U.S. company, Biogen, according to Novartis.
The Swiss pharmaceutical giant listed Zolgensma as one of its three most important growth drivers, along with psoriasis and arthritis medication Cosentyx, and Entresto, which is used to treat chronic heart conditions.
Novartis’ total sales rose 10 per cent to $12.2 billion in the third quarter, compared to the same period in 2018, while the net profit rose eight per cent to reach $2 billion.
While Zolgensma has been successful in the U.S., it has yet to win regulatory approval in the European Union and Japan.
Novartis Chief Executive, Vas Narasimhan, denied that this has anything to do with recently-revealed research data manipulation for Zolgensma, but he said that “there are still open questions regarding the production of this medication”.