Over the past decade, Novartis has consistently pursued a strategy of "focus." Before this shift, Novartis primarily operated under a diversified business model, engaging in multiple sectors such as innovative pharmaceuticals, eye care (Alcon), generics (Sandoz), consumer health, and vaccines.

With multiple growth engines, Novartis’ revenue scale once ranked among the top in the industry. However, as its business volume reached a bottleneck, overall performance began to slow. Dragged down by underperforming segments like over-the-counter drugs, animal health, and vaccines, sales growth in 2013 was only 2%.

Additionally, Novartis faced challenges from the "patent cliff," with declining sales following the expiration of patents for blockbuster drugs. For instance, patents for the antihypertensive drug Diovan (valsartan) and the anticancer drug Glivec (imatinib) expired in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

To reclaim its peak performance, Novartis decided to sharpen its focus on innovation and divest non-core businesses. It divested its vaccine division in 2015, its consumer health division in 2018, spun off its eye care business Alcon in 2019, and separated its generics unit Sandoz in 2023...

After this dramatic process of "letting go," Novartis transformed into a pure-play innovative pharmaceutical company, concentrating on four key therapeutic areas: oncology, immunology, cardiovascular-renal-metabolic diseases, and neuroscience. This shift drove remarkable performance improvements: total revenue growth accelerated from single digits in 2022 to double-digit growth in both 2023 and 2024.

In the first three quarters of 2025, Novartis continued to deliver outstanding results, with total revenue increasing by 11% year-over-year to nearly $41.2 billion, driven by double-digit growth across all four core business areas. Consequently, the capital market responded positively: in 2025, Novartis’ stock price surged by nearly 48%, ranking second among the top ten global pharmaceutical giants in terms of stock performance and securing the fifth position in total market capitalization, behind only Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, and AstraZeneca.

"Ten Years of Focusing on One Thing" has turned Novartis into a "blockbuster manufacturing machine."

In the first nine months of 2025, Novartis had ten products with sales exceeding $1 billion, including Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan), Cosentyx (secukinumab), Kisqali (ribociclib), Kesimpta (ofatumumab), and the radiopharmaceutical Pluvicto.

Looking ahead to the full year of 2025, Novartis is expected to have at least five more "blockbuster drugs," including Tasigna (nilotinib), Zolgensma (a gene therapy priced at over 14 million yuan per dose), the Sandostatin Group, Scemblix (asciminib), and Leqvio (inclisiran).

Even without venturing into ADCs or jumping on the GLP-1 trend, Novartis remains poised and steady. This undoubtedly serves as a hardcore lesson for the industry.

Currently, Novartis continues to adhere to its global "focus" strategy.

In October 2025, Novartis announced the transfer of exclusive import, commercial promotion, and distribution rights in China for Lucentis (ranibizumab injection) and Beovu (brolucizumab injection) – both of which had peak global sales of $4 billion – to CMS Vasun, a subsidiary of China Medical System Holdings Ltd.

The divestment of these two ophthalmology blockbuster products is merely a microcosm of Novartis's intensified focus on its four major disease areas.

In the first three quarters of 2025, all four of Novartis's core business segments achieved robust revenue growth:

• Oncology: $12.574 billion (+20%)

• Immunology: $7.589 billion (+10%)

• Cardiovascular-Renal-Metabolic: $7.358 billion (+19%)

• Neuroscience: $4.368 billion (+26%)

Despite being the smallest revenue contributor, the neuroscience business exhibited the fastest growth rate among all segments, driven primarily by key products such as Kesimpta and Zolgensma. Moreover, Novartis is actively strengthening its neuroscience pipeline through frequent acquisitions and external collaborations, potentially reshaping the company's future product revenue structure.

For example, in November 2024, Novartis acquired Kate Therapeutics for $1.1 billion, securing several gene therapies for neuromuscular diseases, including KT430 for X-linked myotubular myopathy and KT809 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Looking back at 2025, Novartis continued to reinforce its commitment to the neuroscience field:

• In August, it entered into a collaboration worth over $800 million with BioArctic to develop novel therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. BioArctic's proprietary BrainTransporter technology actively transports biologic therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier, enabling broader distribution within the brain and thereby improving efficacy, safety, and dosing convenience.

• In September, Novartis licensed a preclinical-stage siRNA therapy from Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals targeting α-synuclein for synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease, in a deal valued at $2.2 billion.

• In October, Novartis made its largest acquisition in nearly a decade, investing $12 billion to acquire Avidity Biosciences, a pioneer in the field of Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs), securing three late-stage development programs for rare inherited neuromuscular diseases.

Among Avidity's research pipeline, the most advanced candidates are Del-zota (AOC 1044), Del desiran, and Del-brax, targeting indications such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1), and Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD). Notably, AOC 1044 holds landmark significance for the DMD treatment landscape and is expected to receive FDA approval by 2026, potentially becoming the first AOC drug to reach the market.

These frequent major initiatives underscore Novartis's determination to strengthen its neuroscience segment. The underlying rationale lies in its strategy to address weaknesses and enhance overall competitiveness, thereby countering the challenges posed by the patent cliff.

Indeed, this is not the first time Novartis has faced a patent cliff. Even before its transformation, the company experienced revenue pressure due to the patent expirations of two blockbuster drugs: Diovan (valsartan) and Gleevec (imatinib).

At that time, to mitigate the impact, Novartis adopted a strategy of streamlining operations and exploring new avenues. On one hand, it divested underperforming and low-margin businesses to sharpen its focus. On the other hand, it streamlined its R&D pipeline, concentrating efforts on developing innovative drugs to ensure product iteration.

These measures yielded significant results. For instance, the heart failure drug Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan) and the autoimmune drug Cosentyx (secukinumab), both approved in 2015, and the breast cancer drug Kisqali (ribociclib), launched in 2017, helped fill the revenue gap left by patent expirations. These three drugs remain cornerstone products for Novartis today. In the first three quarters of 2025, they generated sales of $6.495 billion, $4.861 billion, and $3.462 billion, respectively, collectively contributing nearly 40% of the company's revenue.

Now, Novartis is once again confronting the challenge of a patent cliff, with key drugs such as Entresto, Cosentyx, and Xolair (omalizumab) nearing patent expiration. In response, the company has launched a comprehensive "gap-filling" initiative.

In the autoimmune field, Novartis has built a robust pipeline, including:

• The already approved BTK inhibitor Remibrutinib,

• Ianalumab (VAY736), a potential first-in-class targeted therapy for Sjögren's syndrome, which has completed Phase III studies,

• The IL-1β/IL-18 bispecific antibody MAS825,

• The CD19 CAR-T therapy YTB323,

• The IL-13/IL-18 bispecific antibody GHZ339, among others.

Additionally, in July 2025, Novartis entered into a strategic collaboration valued at over $1 billion with Matchpoint Therapeutics to jointly develop oral small-molecule covalent inhibitors targeting specific transcription factors for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

The cardiovascular-renal-metabolic (CRM) field is Novartis’s third-largest revenue source, but its pillar product, Entresto, is experiencing slowing growth.

To address this, Novartis has actively expanded its portfolio with high-potential cardiovascular drugs. This includes:

• Acquiring Chinook Therapeutics for $2.7 billion, gaining two IgA nephropathy drugs: Zigakibart and Atrasentan (Vanrafia).

• Acquiring Anthos Therapeutics for $3.1 billion, securing the novel anticoagulant blockbuster Abelacimab.

• Acquiring Regulus Therapeutics for $1.7 billion, obtaining the Phase III-ready microRNA-based kidney disease drug Farabursen.

In the cardiovascular domain, Novartis is advancing the Phase III ASO drug Pelacarsen for the treatment of lipoprotein(a) elevation. It is also collaborating with Bowang Pharmaceuticals to develop novel siRNA therapies for hypertension, including BW-00163 (Phase II) and BW-00112 (targeting ANGPTL3).

For IgA nephropathy, in addition to the already marketed Fabhalta (Iptacopan), Novartis secured Atrasentan (granted FDA accelerated approval) and Zigakibart (in Phase III) through the Chinook acquisition.

In oncology, Novartis has built a pipeline of multiple PROTACs and molecular glue degraders. It also acquired Mariana Oncology, adding the radiopharmaceutical MC-339 to its portfolio.

MC-339 is a therapeutic radiopharmaceutical developed based on cyclic peptides. Compared to antibody-conjugated radionuclide drugs, peptide-conjugated radionuclide drugs can maximize tumor penetration while reducing toxicity. Additionally, Novartis has also developed other drugs, such as 36R-P192, 36R-P138, and PCSK9 cyclic peptides.

In the field of radiopharmaceuticals, Novartis has several promising pipelines, including:

• AAA614 (177Lu-FAP-2286)

• 68Ga-FAP-2286, used for diagnostic purposes

• 25Ac-PSMA-617 (AAA817), the first 225Ac-based radiopharmaceutical

• Ac-PSMA-R2, a next-generation Ac-225-based radiopharmaceutical, among others.

Over the past decade, Novartis has successfully transformed into an innovative pharmaceutical company through its focused strategy. At this stage, Novartis is comprehensively addressing gaps and reinforcing its four core therapeutic areas, demonstrating its determination to tackle the patent cliff.

Even without entering the popular ADC and GLP-1 fields, Novartis has maintained steady performance growth, validating the efficient allocation of resources following its strategic "letting go." Novartis's success undoubtedly serves as a guiding light for the industry.