[Newsmp] Global pharmaceutical companies are struggling under the influence of the endemic.
The second quarter saw some improvement over the first quarter, but most companies' growth rates remained below 7%.
In the midst of this, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, whose sales of dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonists have expanded significantly, recorded growth rates of around 30%, presenting contrasting trends to other drug makers.
According to the quarterly reports of global big pharma companies, a significant number of firms recorded single-digit growth rates in the second quarter following the first quarter.
Especially due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies holding vaccines and treatments experienced sluggish performance.
Pfizer, which has become the world's largest pharmaceutical company with its COVID-19 vaccine and oral treatment Paxlovid, saw its sales drop 54.5% year-on-year in the second quarter.
Pfizer’s sales fell sharply as sales of vaccines, which accounted for more than half of its sales, almost disappeared.
Similarly, Moderna's sales have plummeted by over 90%. This is primarily due to the significant decrease in vaccine sales as its follow-up products have not yet been commercialized.
The sales of Roche, BMS, Biogen, AbbVie, and Sanofi have all decreased compared to the same period the previous year. Among them, except for Sanofi, BMS, Roche, Biogen, and AbbVie reported negative growth rates for two consecutive quarters, but AbbVie managed to reduce the decline.
GSK, MSD, Gilead Sciences, Lilly, Viatris, AstraZeneca, Amgen, and Organon, which also recorded negative growth in the first quarter, recovered their growth in the second quarter.
Showing strong growth with its new products, including Mounjaro, Lilly surpassed KRW 1 trillion in sales and achieved a rebound in the second quarter with a 28.1% growth.
Gilead, Novartis, AstraZeneca, and Amgen all posted growth rates of more than 5% in the second quarter, after recording negative growth rates in the first quarter.
Johnson & Johnson and Novartis continued to grow, with Johnson & Johnson expanding its growth rate from 5.6% in the first quarter to 6.3% in the second quarter.
Moreover, Novo Nordisk's sales grew by 31.6% in the second quarter, following a 27.0% growth in the first quarter, as demand for its semaglutide products such as Ozempic and Wegovy increased significantly.
