Strategic focus allows Novartis to raise sales targets (CNBC)

In light of the announcement of Novartis’ and Reckitt Benckiser’s (RB) Q3 results, John Rountree, was invited on CNBC to discuss how their differing approaches affect their Q3 results respectively.

John highlights the continued strategic drive towards an innovative medicine focus at Novartis, with the spin off of Alcon earlier this year and GlaxoSmithKline’s acquisition of Novartis’ stake in their Consumer Healthcare Joint Venture, in 2018.

John touches upon several of the challenges at RB and how its Consumer Health focus is a tougher business model, with tighter margins and higher competition in local markets.

Margins are a topic that is in increasingly on the minds of pharma executives and an issue we have highlighted before.

In terms of where the two companies are on their journey towards strategic focus they again differ. RB has appointed a new CEO and CFO in 2019 but the change in leadership will likely only be felt in the medium to long term. This is where Novartis is now seeing rewards, as the 2017 appointment of CEO Vasant Narasimhan now begins to take effect and his strategic focus delivers results.