Multinational Pharma Giants Release 2023 Financial Reports Highlighting Blockbuster Drug Performances

Feb 05, 2024 17:58 CST Updated 17:58

Johnson & Johnson

Medical Device R&D and Manufacturer

According to incomplete statistics from the People's Daily Health Client, since February, eight multinational pharmaceutical companies have released their 2023 annual financial reports so far. Johnson & Johnson ranked first with a total revenue of 85.2 billion US dollars, increasing by 6.5% year-on-year. Roche ranked second with basically stable performance, and Merck's Keytruda topped as the "best-selling drug".

Johnson & Johnson: Ustekinumab Exceeds $10.8 Billion

Daratumumab Approaches $10 Billion

On January 23, Johnson & Johnson announced its 2023 financial results, with total annual revenue reaching $85.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.5%. Excluding the COVID-19 vaccine, the growth rate was 9%. After completing the spin-off of its consumer health business in 2023, this marked the first time Johnson & Johnson disclosed its full-year performance as a pharmaceutical giant focused on medical technology and pharmaceuticals. The financial report showed that Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical business achieved revenue of $54.759 billion in 2023, while its medical technology business generated $30.4 billion in revenue.

Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical business primarily focuses on several key areas: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, infectious diseases, pulmonary hypertension, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases. The growth of Johnson & Johnson's oncology business is mainly attributed to the strong performance of products such as Daratumumab, Apalutamide, and Ibrutinib. Among them, Daratumumab generated $9.744 billion in revenue, nearly reaching the $10 billion mark.

In the field of autoimmune diseases, products such as Ustekinumab, Infliximab, Guselkumab, and Golimumab have jointly driven the growth of Johnson & Johnson's performance, generating a combined revenue of $18.041 billion. Among them, Ustekinumab contributed more than $10.8 billion in income.

Roche: Revenue of 58.7 billion Swiss francs

Ophthalmology Dual Antibody Exceeds 2.3 Billion Swiss Francs

On February 1, Roche released its 2023 financial report, with annual revenue of 58.716 billion Swiss francs (approximately 65.627 billion US dollars), a year-on-year increase of 1%; net profit was 12.358 billion Swiss francs, a year-on-year increase of 7%; R&D investment was 13.237 billion Swiss francs, a year-on-year increase of 5%. Overall, Roche maintained strong growth momentum in 2023. Excluding the impact of the COVID-19 business, total revenue increased by 8%.

Roche's pharmaceutical business mainly focuses on disease areas such as oncology, immunology, neurology, hemophilia, infectious diseases, and ophthalmic diseases. Oncology, as the company's pillar sector and main battleground, contributed 19.087 billion Swiss francs in revenue in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 4%. This marks its first growth after consecutive years of decline.

Sales performance in the fields of ophthalmology, hemophilia, and neurology has also been impressive. Among them, faricimab emerged as a dark horse in the ophthalmology sector with a 324% increase in 2023, achieving sales of up to 2.357 billion Swiss francs. This product is the world’s first innovative VEGF-A/Ang2 bispecific antibody specifically designed for intravitreal injection, which enhances vascular stability while reducing retinal leakage.

Merck: 2023 Revenue Exceeds $60 Billion

K Drug Reaches the Top of "Drug King"

On February 1, Merck announced its financial results for 2023. The company achieved annual revenue of $60.115 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 1%; excluding the impact of the COVID-19 oral drug Lagevrio (molnupiravir), the growth was 9%. Merck's pharmaceutical business revenue reached $53.583 billion, a year-over-year increase of 3%. Among this, revenue from the China region amounted to $6.71 billion, accounting for 12.5% of Merck’s global market share, with a year-over-year increase of 32%.

Keytruda (Pembrolizumab), the flagship product, generated annual revenue of $25.011 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19%, securing the top spot as the "best-selling drug" of 2023. HPV vaccines Gardasil/Gardasil 9 benefited from strong demand in the Chinese market, with sales reaching $8.886 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29%.

In 2023, Merck's R&D investment reached a staggering $30.531 billion, equivalent to half of its 2023 revenue being allocated to R&D, whereas its R&D investment in 2022 was only $13.548 billion. In 2023, Merck initiated more than 20 Phase III research projects, including 8 new assets that entered the Phase III stage for the first time in 2023.

Pfizer: Affected by the Sharp Decline in COVID-19 Business

Sales plummeted

On January 30, Pfizer reported its 2023 financial results, showing a 41% year-over-year decrease in total revenue to $58.496 billion and a 93% drop in net profit to $2.119 billion. Excluding the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and the oral treatment drug Paxlovid, Pfizer’s revenue grew by 7% last year. Additionally, in 2023, Pfizer acquired Seagen, an anticancer drug manufacturer, for $43 billion, expanding into the ADC (antibody-drug conjugate) field.

Thanks to the sales contributions of two products — the COVID-19 oral drug and the COVID-19 vaccine — Pfizer became the first pharmaceutical giant to achieve revenue exceeding 100 billion US dollars in 2022. In 2022, the combined sales of Comirnaty and Paxlovid reached 56.739 billion US dollars, contributing approximately 56.57% of Pfizer's total revenue. However, in 2023, Comirnaty’s revenue was 11.22 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 70%.

Apart from the impact of COVID-19-related business, in 2023, oncology, cardiovascular, and immunology products remained Pfizer's primary sources of revenue. The anticancer drugs Palbociclib, Axitinib, Enzalutamide, the anticoagulant Apixaban, the rare disease drug Tafamidis, and the pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar series contributed 40% of its revenue.

Sanofi: 2023 Revenue of 43.07 Billion Euros

Dupilumab Becomes Best-Selling Drug

On February 1, Sanofi announced its 2023 financial results, with revenue of 43.070 billion euros (approximately 47.097 billion US dollars), representing a year-on-year increase of 5.3%. Pharmaceutical business revenue was 37.890 billion euros (approximately 41.433 billion US dollars), vaccine business revenue was 7.474 billion euros (approximately 8.173 billion US dollars), and consumer healthcare business revenue was 5.180 billion euros (approximately 5.664 billion US dollars).

As the star product in Sanofi's autoimmune pipeline, Dupilumab revenue hit a new high, with sales reaching 10.715 billion euros (approximately 11.717 billion US dollars) in 2023. Meanwhile, Dupilumab has also achieved significant progress, including the success of Phase 3 BOREAS and NOTUS clinical trials for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as being approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the first and only treatment for children aged 1 year and above with eosinophilic esophagitis.

Vaccines are Sanofi's second largest source of revenue after pharmaceuticals. In 2023, the revenues from influenza, Polio/Pertussis/Hib, and Meningitis vaccines were €2.669 billion (approximately $2.919 billion), €2.165 billion (approximately $2.367 billion), and €1.17 billion (approximately $1.279 billion) respectively, representing year-over-year decreases of 5.5%, 0.1%, and 0.5%.

Novartis: 2023 Revenue Achieves Double-Digit Growth

Star Product Entresto Revenue Exceeds $6 Billion

On January 31, Novartis released its 2023 financial report, showing strong full-year performance with revenue of $45.44 billion, a 10% year-over-year increase in net sales. Core operating income grew by 18%, and net profit reached $8.572 billion, increasing by 62%.

Among them, the company's star product Sacubitril Valsartan Sodium Tablets (Entresto) achieved $6.035 billion in revenue, representing a 31% year-on-year increase. This product is a new type of anti-heart failure drug and the world’s first angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor. Meanwhile, Novartis' radiopharmaceutical Pluvicto achieved $980 million in revenue, marking a 261% year-on-year increase. The drug was approved for marketing by the U.S. FDA on March 23, 2022, for the treatment of PSMA-positive, progressive castration-resistant prostate cancer that has progressed after treatment.

Looking at the Chinese market, Novartis achieved revenue of $3.3 billion in China for the whole year of 2023, representing a 17% year-on-year increase. In terms of production capacity, on December 1, 2023, Novartis announced plans to invest over 600 million yuan to establish a radiopharmaceutical production base in Haiyan, Zhejiang, to accelerate the introduction of innovative radioligand therapies into China.

GSK: Revenue Exceeds 30 Billion Pounds in 2023

Strong Performance in Vaccine Business

On January 31, GSK announced its financial results for 2023, with annual revenue of £30.328 billion (£37.846 billion), a year-on-year increase of 5%, and operating profit of £6.745 billion (£8.532 billion), a year-on-year increase of 10%.

By business unit, in the whole year of 2023, the vaccine division's revenue increased by 25% year-on-year to 9.864 billion pounds; the specialty medicine division's revenue decreased by 8% year-on-year to 10.244 billion pounds; the general medicine division's revenue increased by 5% year-on-year to 10.220 billion pounds.

Among them, the revenue of the shingles vaccine Shingrix increased by 17% year-on-year to 3.446 billion pounds, the revenue of the meningitis vaccine Meningitis increased by 14% year-on-year to 1.260 billion pounds, and the revenue of the blockbuster drug respiratory syncytial virus vaccine Arexvy reached 1.238 billion pounds in its first year on the market.

Novo Nordisk: 2023 Revenue of $34.4 Billion

Semaglutide Contributes $21.6 Billion

On January 31, Novo Nordisk released its 2023 financial report. The total sales in 2023 reached 232.261 billion Danish kroner (approximately 34.43 billion US dollars), increasing by 36% year-on-year. The net profit was 83.683 billion Danish kroner (12.405 billion US dollars), increasing by 51% year-on-year. The performance was very impressive.

By business segment, the total revenue from diabetes and obesity care businesses was approximately 215.098 billion Danish kroner (about 31.886 billion US dollars), representing a year-on-year increase of 42%. Among this, the diabetes segment generated sales of 173.466 billion Danish kroner (about 25.715 billion US dollars), marking a year-on-year growth of 29%, while the obesity care segment achieved sales of 41.632 billion Danish kroner (about 6.172 billion US dollars), reflecting a year-on-year surge of 154%.

Semaglutide, as Novo Nordisk's most popular product in recent years, currently includes three products: the injectable Ozempic (for Type 2 diabetes), the injectable Wegovy (for obesity), and the oral tablet Rybelsus (for Type 2 diabetes). In 2023, the total annual sales reached 145.811 billion Danish kroner (approximately 21.615 billion US dollars), increasing by 88.78% year-on-year, accounting for 62.78% of the total revenue.

Source: People's Daily Health Client

WorkAuthor: Zhao Mengmeng

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