Novartis 2025 Financial Report: CDK4/6 Inhibitors and Radiopharmaceuticals Shine, China Market Contributes $4.2 Billion

On February 4, 2026, Novartis released its 2025 annual financial performance, demonstrating sustained growth. The company’s total net sales for the year reached $54.532 billion, marking an 8% increase year-over-year (at constant exchange rates). Its core operating margin reached 40.1% for the first time, continuing a streak of growth since 2018.

Novartis CEO, Vas Narasimhan, commented in the report, “In 2025, Novartis achieved high single-digit sales growth, hit a 40% core operating margin, and further advanced our R&D pipeline.”

Financial Overview: Steady Growth and Margin Improvement

Novartis exceeded market expectations with its 2025 financial performance. Total net sales reached $54.532 billion, an 8% increase at constant exchange rates, in line with the company’s revised high single-digit growth forecast. The fourth-quarter sales were $13.336 billion, nearly flat compared to the same period last year.

Notably, profitability indicators showed impressive growth. Core operating profit for the year totaled $21.889 billion, a 14% increase year-over-year. The core operating margin surpassed the 40% mark for the first time, reaching 40.1%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points compared to 2024.

Free cash flow remained strong at $17.596 billion, growing 8% year-over-year. The company maintained a shareholder-friendly capital allocation strategy, proposing a dividend of CHF 3.70 per share at the 2026 Annual General Meeting. This marks the 29th consecutive year of dividend growth in Swiss francs.

Regional Performance: China Drives Global Growth

Core Product Lines Show Strong Performance

Novartis’ strong growth in 2025 was largely driven by the excellent market performance of its key innovative drugs, which collectively generated over $19 billion in revenue.

Among them, the CDK4/6 inhibitor Kisqali stood out. In 2025, the drug achieved $4.8 billion in sales, a 57% increase, far outpacing the market growth and competitive products. Kisqali demonstrated strong competitive performance worldwide. In the U.S., it remained the market leader in metastatic breast cancer, with new patient prescriptions making up 50% of the market share, and total prescriptions accounting for 39%. In early breast cancer, new patient prescriptions reached 63%. Globally, Kisqali has been approved for early breast cancer in 62 countries, with 35 of them already including it in insurance coverage.

Another flagship product, B-cell therapy Kesimpta, also saw rapid growth, reaching $4.4 billion in sales in 2025, a 36% increase. The drug continued to gain market share in the U.S., with a 21% increase in total prescriptions and a 2.4 percentage point gain in the B-cell therapy category market share.

Leqvio, the first small interfering RNA (siRNA) drug for lowering LDL cholesterol, also became a blockbuster in 2025, with sales reaching $1.2 billion, a 57% increase. The drug made significant progress in both the U.S. and China, especially with its successful inclusion in China’s national health insurance list, setting the stage for market expansion in 2026.

Radiopharmaceutical product Pluvicto continued its rapid growth, reaching $2 billion in sales for the year, a 42% increase. The drug demonstrated excellent performance in the U.S. among patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer after taxane chemotherapy, with new patient prescriptions growing by 58% compared to the previous year. Internationally, Pluvicto was approved in Japan and China in the fourth quarter of 2025 for use in pre- and post-taxane treatment settings.

In the field of chronic myeloid leukemia, Novartis achieved a major breakthrough with its STAMP inhibitor, Scemblix, which generated $1.3 billion in sales, an 85% increase, establishing it as another blockbuster. The drug led new prescriptions across all treatment lines in the U.S., with the first-line treatment new patient share increasing to 23%.

China Market: A Key Engine for Innovative Drug Launches

The company’s success in China is attributed to the successful launches and market penetration of several innovative drugs. Kisqali, the first CDK4/6 inhibitor approved in China for HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer in first-line treatment, rapidly gained market share. Its approval for early-stage breast cancer and inclusion in national health insurance further fueled its growth in China.

Pluvicto also made significant strides in the Chinese market. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Chinese regulators approved Pluvicto for the treatment of prostate-specific membrane antigen-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients, including pre- and post-taxane treatment. This made China the fourth country to approve the drug after the U.S., EU, and Japan.

Novartis is actively advancing local manufacturing in China. The company announced plans to establish a radiopharmaceutical manufacturing base to support the long-term supply of Pluvicto and other radiopharmaceuticals in the Chinese market. This strategic move is expected to lower product prices and improve patient accessibility.

Leqvio also showed strong performance in China. By the end of 2025, the drug was included in China’s national health insurance list, paving the way for market expansion in 2026. Additionally, Leqvio received approval in January 2026 for a new monotherapy indication, further broadening its clinical application in China.

Novartis continues to increase its R&D investments in China, collaborating with local research institutions and hospitals on clinical trials targeting Chinese populations. In 2025, Novartis submitted multiple new drug applications in China, including a gene therapy product for spinal muscular atrophy.

R&D Pipeline: Building the Foundation for Future Growth

In oncology, Novartis strengthened its position in radioligand therapy. In addition to the already marketed Pluvicto, the company is developing a next-generation prostate cancer drug, Ac-PSMA-617, which entered phase 3 clinical trials in the second quarter of 2025.

Pelabresib, an innovative drug for myelofibrosis, showed promising results in phase 3 clinical trials. Data presented at the 2025 American Society of Hematology meeting revealed that pelabresib combined with ruxolitinib outperformed ruxolitinib monotherapy in terms of spleen volume reduction, symptom improvement, and anemia.

In immunology, Novartis’ BTK inhibitor, remibrutinib, demonstrated potential across various indications. The drug’s application for the treatment of chronic inducible urticaria was submitted to the U.S. FDA in the fourth quarter of 2025. Two key phase 3 studies in multiple sclerosis are expected to report results in the first half of 2026.

In gene therapy, Novartis achieved significant progress with its gene replacement therapy for spinal muscular atrophy, Itvisma, which was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2025 for patients aged 2 years and older. The approval was based on the drug’s single-dose administration, significant and durable efficacy, and favorable safety profile.

Notably, Novartis also made innovative advancements in malaria treatment. The new antimalarial drug, KLU156, demonstrated positive results in phase 3 trials, achieving a PCR-adjusted cure rate of 97.4% in the treatment of severe malaria. This marks the first major innovation in malaria treatment in 25 years, with significant implications for global public health.

In 2026, Novartis is expected to announce 7 key research results, covering multiple therapeutic areas. The pipeline includes over 20 potential blockbuster projects, providing sustained momentum for medium- and long-term growth.

Patent Challenges and Opportunities

This conservative outlook mainly reflects Novartis’ largest-ever patent expiration wave. Key products such as Entresto, Tasigna, and Promacta will face generic competition in the U.S. The company expects these patent expirations to have a significant impact on performance in the first half of 2026.

Nonetheless, Novartis remains confident in its growth goals for the mid-term. The company expects net sales to grow at a 5-6% compound annual growth rate between 2025 and 2030. This projection accounts for the lower growth in 2026 and the impact of the U.S. Most Favored Nation (MFN) agreement.

To address the challenges posed by patent expirations, Novartis is accelerating the launch and market penetration of new products. The company expects continued strong growth from Kisqali, Kesimpta, Pluvicto, and Leqvio, which will partially offset the decline in revenue from patent-expired products.