BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: PFIZER, MODERNA, ELI LILLY, NOVARTIS, GLAXOSMITHKLINE, ROCHE, AMGEN

Brand Name Drug Companies Continue to Hike Prices and Post Record Profits

Rounding out the rest of Big Pharma’s earnings calls for the first quarter, brand name drug makers Pfizer, Moderna, Eli Lilly, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, and Amgen all reported revenue that topped Wall Street expectations, and several of the Big Pharma firms reported stronger than expected earnings as well. The strong first quarter earnings reports coincide with continued price hikes, including at the start of the year, and indications the Big Pharma companies will continue to price-gouge American patients.

Pfizer

• Pfizer smashed Wall Street analysts’ earnings and revenue estimates, raking in $18.28 billion in Q1 revenue.
• Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral treatments, Comirnaty and Paxlovid, brought in over $7 billion for the company.
• The Big Pharma giant reported a first-quarter profit of $5.54 billion.
• Pfizer maintained its 2023 sales forecast of $67 billion to $71 billion.
• Strong revenue was further fueled by migraine drug Nurtec ODT and sickle cell disease treatment Oxbryta, which together brought in more than $200 million.

Moderna

• Moderna also smashed Q1 earnings and revenue estimates, topping Wall Street analysts’ estimates.
• The brand name drug maker reported Q1 sales of $1.9 billion.
• The Big Pharma giant reported a first-quarter net income of $79 million.

Eli Lilly

• Lilly topped Wall Street revenue estimates, reporting Q1 revenue of $6.96 billion.
• The drug maker posted a net income of $1.3 billion for the quarter.
• Growth products revenue increased 18 percent to $4.56 billion in Q1 2023, led by Verzenio, Trulicity, Jardiance and Taltz.
• New products contributed $573.6 million in revenue in Q1 2023, driven by blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro, with 2023 revenue projections topping $1 billion – on track to become the company’s third best-selling drug.
• Lilly raised its guidance for the year with 2023 revenue projected to top $31 billion.

Novartis

• Novartis reported earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations, reporting $12.95 billion in revenue.
• The Big Pharma giant posted a first-quarter profit of $2.29 billion.
• Sales of the drug maker’s blockbuster heart failure drug Entresto jumped 28 percent to $1.39 billion.
• Sales from the company’s popular breast cancer drug Kisqali increased 74 percent to $415 million.

GlaxoSmithKline

• GlaxoSmithKline topped Wall Street analysts’ revenue and profit estimates, reporting revenues of $8.45 billion in Q1.
• The Big Pharma giant reported first-quarter net income of $1.81 billion.
• GlaxoSmithKline’s strong performance was driven by popular shingles vaccine Shingrix, as well as respiratory drugs Nucala and Trelegy.

Roche

• Roche reported revenue for the first quarter that beat Wall Street analysts’ projections, raking in $17.2 billion, driven by anti-blindness treatment Vabysmo and better-than-expected sales of COVID antibody treatment Ronapreve.
• The Big Pharma giant’s strong revenue performance was buoyed by higher-than-expected sales in the company’s pharmaceutical division – up nine percent year-over-year to $13.1 billion.
• Roche’s popular eye medicine, Vabysmo, generated $483.6 million in Q1 sales.

Amgen

• Amgen reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, reporting first-quarter net income of $2.84 billion.
• Over the last four quarters, Amgen has surpassed consensus earnings estimates each time.
• Amgen posted revenues of $6.11 billion in Q1 2023.

The strong earnings come as several of the drug makers have implemented significant price hikes in 2023 and have a history of engaging in anti-competitive tactics.

Pfizer

• Pfizer hiked prices on 125 medications in 2023, including the popular rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz by six percent.
• In 2022, Pfizer hiked drug prices more than 100 times, increasing the price of best-selling cancer treatment Ibrance by more than five percent.
• Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla signaled to Wall Street that he expects higher profit margins due to the company’s price hike on its COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid ahead of commercial distribution: “we expect, going forward, to be higher, the margins.”

Moderna

• The Big Pharma drug maker confirmed during its first-quarter earnings call, that they intend to move forward on hiking the price of their blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine from $26.36 to as much as $130 per dose.
• The price hike represents a 500 percent increase as payment shifts from the U.S. Government to the private market.
• The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was developed with substantial investment from taxpayers, yet the brand name manufacturer is still preparing to squeeze additional profits from American consumers to boost their bottom line.

Eli Lilly

• Eli Lilly started 2023 by raising prices on 15 prescription drugs, including top-selling diabetes drug Trulicity by five percent.
• The company began last year with more than a dozen price hikes, including another five percent increase on Trulicity.
• Last summer, Eli Lilly increased the price of its COVID-19 antibody treatment by an estimated 14 percent as coverage shifted to the commercial market from the U.S. government.

Novartis

• Novartis has already hiked prices on 77 prescription drugs this year, including breast cancer drug Kisqali by 8 percent.
• Last summer, Novartis raised the price of Adakveo, a popular treatment for sickle cell disease for adults.
• Novartis began 2022 by hiking prices on more than 20 prescription drugs, including a seven percent increase on Kisqali.
• Novartis increased prices 20 times in January of 2021, including a seven percent hike on blockbuster psoriasis drug Cosentyx.

GlaxoSmithKline

• GlaxoSmithKline has already hiked prices on 50 prescription drugs this year, including blockbuster shingles vaccine Shingrix by 9 percent.
• GlaxoSmithKline raised prices on more than 30 drugs last year, including on popular respiratory treatment and cancer drug Zejula.
• In 2021, GSK increased prices 34 times, including on top-selling respiratory drug Trelegy Ellipta.

Roche

• As sales have climbed, Roche has repeatedly hiked prices on products in its portfolio.
• In the first week of 2020, Roche hiked prices on 11 drugs.
• Blockbuster cancer drug Perjeta was named one of the top 25 drugs pushing costs up in Oregon.
• A report released in late 2019 found that Roche’s price hikes on the popular drug Rituxan were not supported by innovation or improvements and cost U.S. taxpayers $806 million.

Amgen

• Amgen started 2023 by raising prices on more than 30 prescription drugs, including plaque psoriasis drug Otezla by 7.4 percent.
• Amgen hiked prices on 33 prescriptions in 2022, including a 4 percent increase on popular rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel.
• A recent U.S. House Committee on Oversight report found that Amgen hiked prices of blockbuster drugs Enbrel and Sensipar to meet revenue targets.

Read more on Q1 earnings from Merck, Sanofi, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AbbVie and AstraZeneca HERE.

Read more on Q1 earnings from Johnson & Johnson HERE.

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