The pharma churn is real, and new products are a constant need in the quest for growth. Big Pharma is always under intense pressure to deliver its next win as investors keep a close eye on recently-launched treatments and those poised to hit the market soon.
In the third quarter of 2024, pharmas are leaning into the next generation of products they hope will drive revenue for years to come as wide-ranging patent cliffs threaten — or already eat away at — the profits investors expect. But even beyond a loss of exclusivity, other forces — like encroaching innovation or past market failures — are also spurring companies to place bets on newer products.
Here’s what executives at some of the biggest pharma companies said in their third-quarter earnings calls about the rising medications that could drive future growth.
“Among our vaccines, we are very pleased with our performance since the launch of Prevnar 20, which has already achieved 83% [of the] market in pediatric and 97% in adults.”
Albert Bourla
CEO, Pfizer
Pfizer’s vaccine franchise is under the gun, and not just because sales of its COVID-19 vaccine have plunged since the pandemic. The company’s blockbuster pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 13 and the updated Prevnar 20 that launched last year are taking hits from all sides. A June approval for Merck & Co.’s 21-valent vaccine Capvaxive, along with a whopper of a head-to-head study from Vaxcyte for a 31-valent version, could strain Prevnar’s hold on the market by covering more strains in one shot.
But Pfizer’s newest iteration of the Prevnar franchise is still holding strong since launch, CEO Albert Bourla said on the earnings call, retaining a vast majority of the market share despite the headwinds. And Pfizer is looking to add more heavy-hitters to the Prevnar roster with a fourth-generation Prevnar 25 in the works to rival new technology from competitors.
“Tremfya was [$1 billion] in sales for the quarter … on psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis alone. When we take a look going forward and what we had seen with Stelara in terms of the strength in IBD and the potential, we think that Tremfya definitely is an asset that is of Stelara size or bigger and better.”
Jennifer Taubert
Executive vice president, worldwide chairman, J&J Innovative Medicine
Although Tremfya launched in 2017 and is already a blockbuster, the immunology drug has remained in the shadow of Johnson & Johnson’s juggernaut Stelara. But with Stelara now open to biosimilar competition, the company is looking to Tremfya as a potential market leader.
A recent approval for ulcerative colitis is “a winning proposition” in the inflammatory bowel disease category, executive vice president and worldwide chairman of J&J Innovative Medicine, Jennifer Taubert, said on the company’s call. J&J has also pitted the drugs against one another with a head-to-head trial in which Tremfya showed superiority against Stelara — and 75% of Stelara sales come from the inflammatory bowel disease area, CEO Joaquin Duato pointed out.
“We've seen an awful lot of real effort out there in the marketplace, and we add prescribers every week and we see more sales every week. And so I think that's the way it's going to progress probably until we get the subcutaneous for induction. I think that could be quite a game changer.”
Chris Viehbacher
CEO, Biogen
Biogen’s struggles to get the market to embrace its Alzheimer’s disease drugs have been very public and very humbling. With its first approved drug Aduhelm now pulled from the market, the company’s second treatment Leqembi, developed alongside partner Eisai, is struggling to maintain uptake despite a huge patient pool.
From reimbursement difficulties to PET scan requirements, Biogen is getting hammered by infrastructure challenges that have kept revenue below expectations, according to a note from Mizuho analyst Salim Syed. CEO Chris Viehbacher was candid on the company’s earnings call about Biogen’s struggles in the year since launch, claiming the partners are reviewing “what’s working well and what [we could] be doing more.” There is a plan, though — the company is working to overcome challenges like burdensome infusions with a subcutaneous formulation and replacing PET scans with blood-based diagnostics to make treatment more feasible for both patients and physicians.
“When you think about the tailwinds that we have, it's clearly the new indications and launches … We feel very good with where the business is.”
Vasant Narasimhan
CEO, Novartis
Novartis has seen patent cliffs come and go and has more on the horizon — the company also has the bestselling cardiovascular drug Entresto gracing a spot on the Inflation Reduction Act’s dreaded list of treatments up for Medicare price negotiation. But the Swiss pharma giant has new drugs that could pick up the slack in years to come, including Scemblix, which was approved this week as a first-line treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia. In fact, Novartis has a strong slate of new oncology meds, including Kisqali for breast cancer and Pluvicto for prostate cancer, that CEO Vasant Narasimhan said are providing needed growth momentum.
