Novartis reports sales improvement in second quarter

Novartis has published its fiscal report for the second quarter of the 2010 financial year, during which it saw an 11 per cent year-on-year rise in net sales.

The pharmaceutical company’s sales total for the three-month period hit $11.7 billion (7.6 billion pounds), while first half sales came to $23.8 billion, an 18 per cent improvement on last year.

Among the positive steps made by Novartis in the last quarter were key regulatory approvals for the drugs Tasigna and FTY720, as well as the progression of several new oncology agents.

Joseph Jimenez, chief executive officer of Novartis, also highlighted the fact that just over a fifth of its quarterly sales revenue came from recently-launched products.

He added: “We are making great progress on all three strategic priorities of innovation, growth and productivity.”

Earlier this week, Novartis agreed a deal to licence two novel nanobody treatments from biopharmaceutical company Ablynx, in order to develop them against complex targets.