BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: ABBVIE, SANOFI, BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB, NOVARTIS

New Q4 Earnings Reports Underscore How Big Pharma’s Pandemic Price Hikes, Anti-Competitive Tactics Boost Profits

Another round of fourth-quarter earnings reports from AbbVie, Sanofi, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Novartis demonstrate that brand-name drug manufacturers continue to rake in blockbuster profits after hiking prices on multiple prescription drugs in their portfolios throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. All four Big Pharma giants reported strong earnings for the fourth-quarter and full year of 2021.

AbbVie

• AbbVie reported fourth-quarter earnings of $4.0 billion, beating Wall Street expectations with adjusted earnings growing 13.4 percent year-over-year.
• AbbVie sales jumped 7.4 percent in Q4 to $14.89 billion, reflecting a surge in revenues across all reported segments.
• AbbVie reported $56.2 billion in revenue for the year, raking in a profit of $11.5 billion.
• Strong sales were driven by blockbuster drug Humira – still the world’s best-selling drug – which notched $5.3 billion in sales in the fourth quarter.

Sanofi

• Sanofi reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street analysts’ forecasts and revenue that topped expectations.
• The company reported $11.39 billion in net sales in Q4, up 6.5 percent.
• Pharmaceutical sales rose 7.4 percent in the quarter to $7.9 billion, driven by the continued strong performance of popular asthma and eczema drug Dupixent.
• Dupixent brought in almost $6 billion in revenue in 2021, a 53.1 percent increase year-over-year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb

• Bristol-Myers Squibb again topped analysts revenue estimates, posting Q4 revenues of $12.0 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 8.3 percent.
• The company reported strong performance in the U.S., notching $7.5 billion in revenues in the U.S. market alone in the fourth quarter.
• Strong sales were driven by the company’s oncology division and in particular, by blockbuster blood clot drug Elliquis, which brought in $2.6 billion.
• Perennial blockbuster cancer drug Revlimid also brought in a whopping $3.3 billion for the Big Pharma giant.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb reported that research and development expenses decreased 30 percent to $2.6 billion in the quarter while earlier in the quarter the company approved $15 billion in new stock buybacks.

Novartis

• Novartis reported sales of $13.23 billion in the fourth quarter, up 6 percent year over year.
• Novartis reported $52.88 billion in revenue and $24.02 billion in profit for the year, highlighting drug sales in the oncology business unit as a significant contributor.
• Q4 revenues from arthritis and psoriasis drug Cosentyx increased 13 percent to $1.24 billion, while heart failure treatment Entresto jumped 34 percent to $949 million.

The strong earnings calls come as the drug makers have leveled significant price hikes during the COVID-19 pandemic and have a history of engaging in anti-competitive tactics.

AbbVie

• AbbVie launched another round of major price hikes to start the year, hiking the price of its blockbuster drug Humira, as well as on its autoimmune medicines Skyrizi and Rinvoq and cancer treatment Imbruvica – all by 7.4 percent.
• This follows 7.4 percent price hikes at the start of last year, on all of the same prescription drugs.
• AbbVie has a history of price gouging on the company’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug, Humira.
• Humira’s price has almost doubled since 2012, from about $19,000 to $38,000.
• AbbVie currently holds over 130 patents on Humira in the United States, blocking competition for up to 39 years.
• According to ICER, price hikes on AbbVie’s Humira were not supported by new clinical evidence and accounted for an unnecessary increase in U.S. drug spending of more than $1.8 billion from 2017 to 2018.

Sanofi

• Sanofi hiked the price of its blockbuster asthma and eczema drug Dupixent by 4 percent in January, along with hiking prices on 42 additional prescription drugs.
• Sanofi hiked prices on multiple sclerosis drug Aubagio and rheumatoid arthritis drug Kevzara by 5.7 percent at the start of the year.
• Sanofi was among the Big Pharma companies who chose to raise prices last July, doing so on key medications in the company’s portfolio despite the unprecedented economic uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In 2020, Sanofi was caught exploiting charities to boost the company’s bottom line at the expense of taxpayers. In a settlement, Sanofi was ordered to pay the U.S. government nearly $12 million after the company “used a charity that helps cover Medicare patients’ out-of-pocket drug costs as a means to pay them kickbacks to use a high-priced multiple sclerosis drug,” Reuters reported.

Bristol-Myers Squibb

• Bristol-Myers Squibb began 2022 by hiking prices on more than a dozen prescription drugs, including two key cancer drugs, Opdivo and Revlimid, as well as on blockbuster blood thinner drug Eliquis.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb hiked prices on at least ten medications to start out 2021.
• In 2020, Bristol-Myers Squibb hiked prices on at least 15 medications.
• This was business as usual for Bristol-Myers Squibb. From 2015 to 2019, the company had the most price hikes per drug of any Big Pharma company.

Novartis

• The brand name giant rang in the 2022 New Year by hiking prices on more than 20 prescription drugs – including a seven percent increase on breast cancer drug Kisqali.
• Novartis increased prices 20 times in 2021 and more than 30 times in 2020, including a seven percent hike on blockbuster psoriasis drug Cosentyx each year.
• Novartis increased prices at least 57 times in 2019 by an average of 6.3 percent.
• Novartis hiked the prices of Cosentyx and Entresto in 2019 by a staggering 10 percent each.

And a report from the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform reveals the lengths the brand name giant went to maximize profits on its blockbuster drug Gleevec.

• “Since Launching A 400 Mg Tablet Of Gleevec In 2003, Novartis Has Raised The Price Of The Drug 22 Times.” “A yearly course of Gleevec is priced at more than $123,000 today compared to just under $25,000 in 2003, an increase of more than 395%. Novartis raised the price of Gleevec steadily—and at a steeper rate—as it approached its loss of primary patent exclusivity in early 2016. Between 2010 and 2015, Novartis raised the price of Gleevec 12 times. In 2013 alone, the price increased by 20%.” (Staff Report, “Drug Pricing Investigation: Novartis — Gleevec,” U.S. House Committee On Oversight And Reform, 10/1/20)
• • “Due To Gleevec Price Increases, From 2009 To 2019, Novartis Collected Nearly $14.8 Billion In U.S. Net Revenue For The Drug, With U.S. Net Revenue For Gleevec Increasing From $1 Billion In 2009 To More Than $2.5 Billion In 2015.” (Staff Report, “Drug Pricing Investigation: Novartis — Gleevec,” U.S. House Committee On Oversight And Reform, 10/1/20)

• “Novartis Used Several Anticompetitive Tactics To Delay Generic Competition And Maintain Its Profits.” “First, Novartis undertook regulatory steps to extend its primary base compound patent on Gleevec for 26 months, from May 2013 to July 2015. Novartis also engaged in a practice known as ‘pay for delay,’ where the company struck a deal with the first generic entrant to delay entry of the generic by six months. Although the generic company had initially announced that it would price its generic 30% below the price of Gleevec, the generic company ultimately entered the market at a price just 6.4% lower than Gleevec’s price. Novartis executives hailed this high generic price in an email: “That’s good news.” Experts estimate that these strategies—a six-month delay for generic entry and then a six-month duopoly—resulted in $700 million in excess costs to payers in the one-year period from 2015 to 2016.” (Staff Report, “Drug Pricing Investigation: Novartis — Gleevec,” U.S. House Committee On Oversight And Reform, 10/1/20)

Read more on fourth-quarter earnings from Big Pharma giant Johnson & Johnson HERE.

Stay tuned as we continue to monitor Q4 earnings announcements from Big Pharma.

Learn more about market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable and lower prescription drug prices HERE.