Basel - Commenting on the quarter, Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, said: 'We continue to deliver our medicines to patients and advance our innovative pipeline as reflected in our strong operational performance in Q1.

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. Our response to the COVID-19 crisis demonstrates Novartis' relentless commitment to our associates, patients, and the global community. For our associates we've committed to no COVID-19 related job losses and a full range of support programs. To support the global public health response, we are engaged in multiple collaborative R&D efforts, large scale clinical trials and donations to support local communities in currently over 60 countries.'

COVID-19 Update

As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, our primary concern remains the health and safety of our associates and patients globally while we also continue to take strong actions to help address the pandemic.

We are supporting our associates through a range of programs, from additional paid days off for those who have to care for ill family members at home, enhanced child care, on-line learning programs and enabled working from home. Importantly, Novartis has made a commitment that there will be no COVID-19 related job losses.

During the first quarter, COVID-19 did not have a material impact on our underlying business, financial condition, cash collections or liquidity. COVID-19 did result in increased forward purchasing by customers, including at the patient level, as some patients filled prescriptions to cover a longer period of time. Novartis continues to deliver needed medicines to patients and healthcare providers around the world. We do not anticipate supply chain disruption for the majority of the portfolio at this time given strong mitigation measures and inventory levels.

Clinical trials are continuing and we are leveraging our digital tools to limit the disruption caused by the pandemic. We are seeing slowdowns in new enrollments in ongoing clinical studies and start-up with new studies. We are utilizing the SENSE digital technology implemented in 2018 that allows us to track in real time all of our clinical trials (500+) in more than 70 countries at the level of individual patients and shift to contingency plans rapidly as the situation evolves. This includes, direct-to-patient medication delivery supported by home nursing services, virtual safety assessments and remote medical monitoring. At this time we remain confident the impact on our ongoing clinical trials is manageable. Looking ahead for the remainder of the year, we do not expect delays in our planned 2020 regulatory submissions. We will continue to monitor and provide more updates as the year unfolds.

Novartis is participating in collaborative research efforts such as the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, coordinated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard, as well as a COVID-19 directed partnership organized by the Innovative Medicines Initiative. Both are cross-sector collaborations that bring several pharmaceutical companies and expert academic institutions into coordinated research programs, with the aim of bringing the most promising molecules forward quickly without organizational barriers. Additionally, in response to an urgent call for research and development on COVID-19, issued by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, Novartis is contributing by making available several compounds from its libraries that are considered suitable for in vitro antiviral testing.

Together with the research community, Novartis is assessing whether our clinical-stage investigational or approved medicines could be repurposed beyond their intended or approved indications to treat complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Novartis initiated a Phase III clinical trial in collaboration with Incyte to evaluate the use of ruxolitinib in combination with standard of care (SoC), compared to SoC alone, as well as a Phase III study of canakinumab, in patients with pneumonia as a result of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In addition, Novartis announced a Phase III trial of hydroxychloroquine, alone and in combination with azithromycin, for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 disease. Under an expedited managed access program, Novartis has granted requests and provided ruxolitinib and canakinumab. Requests for investigator initiated trials have also been granted for COVID-19-related clinical studies of imatinib, secukinumab, hydroxychloroquine and valsartan. Novartis has committed to donate up to 130 million doses of generic hydroxychloroquine to support the global COVID-19 pandemic response.

Financials

In order to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Novartis has separated the Group's reported financial data for the current and prior years into 'continuing' and 'discontinued' operations. The results of the Alcon business in 2019 are reported as discontinued operations.

The Sandoz US generic oral solids and dermatology businesses will be retained by Novartis, after mutual agreement with Aurobindo to terminate the transaction. This decision was taken as approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for the transaction was not obtained within the agreed timelines.

The commentary below focuses on continuing operations including the businesses of Innovative Medicines and Sandoz, as well as the continuing Corporate functions. We also provide information on discontinued operations.

Continuing operations first quarter

Net sales were USD 12.3 billion (+11%, +13% cc) in the first quarter driven by volume growth of 17 percentage points, mainly from Entresto, Zolgensma, Cosentyx and Promacta/Revolade. Volume growth also benefited from COVID-19 related forward purchasing. Strong volume growth was partly offset by price erosion of 3 percentage points and negative impact from generic competition of 1 percentage point. Excluding COVID-19 related forward purchases, we estimate sales growth would have been approximately 9% (cc).

Operating income was USD 2.7 billion (+22%, +30% cc) mainly driven by higher sales, partly offset by launch investments and higher legal expenses.

Net income was USD 2.2 billion (+16%, +24% cc) mainly driven by higher operating income, partly offset by higher taxes. EPS was USD 0.96 (+19%, +27% cc), growing faster than net income benefiting from lower weighted average number of shares outstanding.

Core operating income was USD 4.2 billion (+28%, +34% cc) mainly driven by higher sales and gross margin, partly offset by launch investments. Core operating income margin was 34.0% of net sales, increasing by 4.7 percentage points (+5.4 percentage points cc). Excluding COVID-19 related forward purchases and lower spending, we estimate core operating income growth would have been approximately 22% (cc) and core operating income margin would have been approximately 32% of net sales.

Core net income was USD 3.5 billion (+26%, +31% cc) driven by growth in core operating income, partly offset by higher financial expenses. Core EPS was USD 1.56 (+29%, +34% cc), growing faster than core net income benefiting from lower weighted average number of shares outstanding.

Free cash flow from continuing operations amounted to USD 2.0 billion (+8%) compared to USD 1.9 billion in the prior year quarter. The increase was mainly driven by higher cash flows from operating activities.

Innovative Medicines net sales were USD 9.8 billion (+11%, +13% cc). Pharmaceuticals BU sales grew 14% (cc), driven by continuing momentum on Entresto and Cosentyx and the launch uptake of Zolgensma. Oncology BU grew 12% (cc) driven by continuing momentum on Promacta/Revolade, Tafinlar + Mekinist and Kisqali as well as the launch uptake of Piqray. Volume contributed 18 percentage points to sales growth and partly benefited from COVID-19 related forward purchasing. Generic competition had a negative impact of 2 percentage points, mainly driven by Afinitor, Exjade, Travatan and Exforge, and net pricing had a negative impact of 3 percentage points.

Sandoz net sales were USD 2.5 billion (+9%, +11% cc) driven by volume growth of 15 percentage points including COVID-19 related forward purchasing, partly offset by price erosion of 4 percentage points. Excluding the US, net sales grew strongly (+17% cc). Global sales of Biopharmaceuticals grew to USD 450 million (+31% cc), mainly driven by continued strong double-digit growth in Europe.

Discontinued operations

Discontinued operations include the business of Alcon and certain Corporate costs directly attributable to Alcon up to the spin-off date. As the Alcon spin-off was completed on April 9, 2019, the first quarter of the prior year includes three months of operating results of the divested business.

In the first quarter of 2020, there were no activities related to discontinued operations. In the first quarter 2019, discontinued operations net sales were USD 1.8 billion, operating income amounted to USD 71 million and net loss from discontinued operations was USD 101 million.

Total Group first quarter

For the total Group, net income amounted to USD 2.2 billion compared to USD 1.8 billion in prior year, and basic earnings per share was USD 0.96 compared to USD 0.77 in prior year. Cash flow from operating activities for the total Group amounted to USD 2.5 billion and free cash flow to USD 2.0 billion.

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that can generally be identified by words such as 'to support,'

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Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. In particular, our expectations could be affected by, among other things: disruptions of our manufacturing or supply chain impacting our ability to meet demand for our products in the future; liquidity or cash flow disruptions affecting our ability to meet our ongoing financial obligations and to support our ongoing business activities; uncertainties regarding the impact of past and future COVID-19 related forward purchasing on sales and core operating income in the future; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on enrollment in, initiation and completion of our clinical trials in the future, and research and development timelines; global trends toward healthcare cost containment, including ongoing government, payer and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; uncertainties regarding potential significant breaches of data security or data privacy, or disruptions of our information technology systems; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally, including potential regulatory actions or delays with respect to the development of the products described in this press release; the potential that the strategic benefits, synergies or opportunities expected from the acquisition of the Japanese business of Aspen Global Incorporated, and other transactions described, may not be realized or may be more difficult or take longer to realize than expected; potential adverse reactions to the transaction by customers, suppliers or strategic partners; dependence on key personnel of Aspen Global Incorporated; dependence on third parties to fulfill manufacturing and supply obligations; the uncertainties involved in predicting shareholder returns; the uncertainties in the research and development of new healthcare products, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection, including the ultimate extent of the impact on Novartis of the loss of patent protection and exclusivity on key products that commenced in prior years and is expected to continue this year; safety, quality, data integrity, or manufacturing issues; uncertainties involved in the development or adoption of potentially transformational technologies and business models; uncertainties regarding actual or potential legal proceedings, including, among others, product liability litigation, disputes and litigation with business partners or business collaborators, government investigations generally, litigation and investigations regarding sales and marketing practices, and intellectual property disputes; our performance on environmental, social and governance measures; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases such as COVID-19; uncertainties regarding future global exchange rates; uncertainties regarding future demand for our products and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Novartis

Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 109,000 people of more than 145 nationalities work at Novartis around the world.

Contact:

Antonio Ligi

Tel: +41 61 324 1374

Email: antonio.ligi@novartis.com

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