By Ludwig Burger
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Novartis raised its full-year earnings outlook, citing strong growth momentum after scoring a trial success for a key breast cancer drug and making progress on boosting production of a radiotherapy drug against prostate cancer.
The Swiss drugmaker said in a statement on Tuesday that when excluding Sandoz, the generic-drug division that will be spun off during the second half of the year, group core operating income would grow by a “high single digit to low double digit” percentage.
It had previously forecast a “mid-to-high single digit” increase.
First-quarter group sales gained 3% to $12.95 billion, above an analyst consensus of $12.55 billion, driven by better than expected revenues from psoriasis and arthritis drug Cosentyx.
Kesimpta, a once-a-month injection against multiple sclerosis, and breast cancer treatment Kisqali also contributed to sales growth, Novartis said.
The planned Sandoz spin-off remains on track for the second half of 2023, it added.
Novartis has struggled with the production ramp-up of Pluvicto against prostate cancer but it said this month that it received approval to add a facility in Millburn, New Jersey, to the sites making the radiotherapy drug.
Providing a confidence boost for the drugmaker’s development prowess, the Kisqali breast cancer drug was last month shown to cut the risk of recurrence in women who were diagnosed at an early stage of the disease.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, Editing by Rachel More)