CEO Novartis The Swiss pharmaceutical giant is not planning to get into the weight-loss drug “craze” but prefers to focus on areas where it can build a “unique position,” it said on Wednesday.
Vas Narasimhan told CNBC the company is working on treatments to treat weight-loss side effects but doesn’t plan to compete directly with dominant obesity drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and Company.
“I don’t think it’s the right move for Novartis to jump on this bandwagon right now,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
“With the current obesity problem, we have two very entrenched big players, and I think for future entrants, you have to find something new, some new angle, to either reduce nausea and vomiting or give patients the ability to weight loss and retaining their strength,” he said, highlighting the existing work of Novartis Research Laboratories in these areas.
Competition for obesity drugs has intensified in recent months, with major players including Roche and Pfizer The market is expected to be worth up to US$200 billion within the next decade.
Narasimhan, however, said his company is targeting areas where “we know we can win.” These include treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases, as well as various cancer therapies.
In particular, he said he saw huge market opportunities in the growing market. radioligand therapy (RLT), a cancer treatment that targets cancer cells. The company has made two acquisitions and launched two drugs in the space so far.
“We think we can build a business worth more than $20 billion in this space over time and hopefully establish a unique position rather than chasing other markets,” he said.
“I feel like we have the right to win in these places,” he added.
His comments were received at the company Agree On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval for its Kisqali metastatic breast cancer drug to treat patients with earlier stages of the disease.
Novartis The stock fell 0.3% after briefly rising at the open at 9:30 a.m. London time on Wednesday.
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