CEO Novartis The company said Wednesday that it has no plans to join the “craze” for weight-loss drugs, but rather wants to focus on areas where it can carve out a “unique position.”
Vas Narasimhan told CNBC that the company is researching treatments to address the secondary effects of weight loss, but has no plans to compete directly with major obesity treatment makers. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
“I don’t think it would be the right move for Novartis to just jump on this craze right now,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
“In obesity, there are two very established large companies right now. I think any new entrants will have to find some new angle, whether it’s reducing nausea and vomiting or helping patients lose weight and maintain muscle,” he said, highlighting existing work in these areas in Novartis labs.
Competition for obesity treatments has intensified in recent months, with major companies Roche and Pfizer It will enter a market estimated to be worth $200 billion within the next decade.
But Narasimhan said the company is targeting areas “where we know we can win,” including treating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s, as well as various cancer treatments.
In particular, he said there is a big market opportunity in the growing area of ​​radioligand therapy (RLT), a cancer treatment that targets cancer cells, in which the company has made two acquisitions and launched two drugs.
“We think this is an area where we can build a $20 billion-plus business over time and position ourselves uniquely rather than chasing other markets,” he said.
“These are places we feel we have a right to win,” he added.
His comments came after the company received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday for its metastatic breast cancer drug Kisqali to be used to treat patients in the early stages of breast cancer.
Novartis Shares rose briefly at the start of trading before falling 0.3% by 9:30 a.m. London time on Wednesday.