Novartis says generics sales will take Q2 hit, but it has a plan for the future

Fierce Pharma ------ ou know the pricing pressure that burned the revenues of most generics makers in the first quarter? Well, Novartis executives say it is only getting worse, and that its Sandoz unit will succumb this quarter. Long term, the Swiss drugmaker said biosimilars will be the salve to heal the hurt, but for now the U.S. market will bring the pain. “The impact of US pricing pressure and prior year launch timing is expected to have a higher impact on Q2 2017 sales growth than Q1,” the company said. That was one of the messages Novartis shared today during an investors' conference in Boston. Sandoz managed to eke out a 1% gain in sales in the first quarter while most competitors were seeing significant shrinkage. It might have offset further price erosion this quarter with the launch of 40 mg Glatopa, its generic of the long-acting version of Teva’s blockbuster Copaxone, which Novartis developed with Momenta. The copy was expected to be the first to market, but approval was sidelined in February when the Pfizer plant handling fill/finish was slapped with an FDA warning letter. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.