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Vasant Narasimhan

Chief Executive Officer, Novartis

Search every verified Vasant Narasimhan interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Vasant Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, stated during the company's Q2 2026 earnings call on July 21 that the company's M&A strategy has not changed. He said Novartis remains focused on "steady deals" in the sub-$2 billion range and will "selectively do larger deals" when there is a "compelling asset" that fits its platform or therapeutic area strategy, citing the acquisition of Evidity as an example. Narasimhan noted that the price of assets with limited or no clinical data has "gone up quite dramatically," requiring "higher levels of conviction in the science." He also said that Novartis is building infrastructure for radioligand therapy, which he described as a potential "$25 to $30 billion segment over time." Narasimhan reported that Novartis delivered "strong performance" in Q2 2026, with business growing 1% in constant currencies and flat core operating income of $5.9 billion. He reaffirmed the company's full-year guidance, explaining that the second half of the year will involve "investing in the pipeline and investing in the launches" to sustain future growth. He also expressed concern about the European market, stating that "only 60% of new medicines are launched in a timely manner in Europe today" and that he expects an even lower percentage of innovative medicines to be launched there in the future.

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Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“We're already in a situation where only 60% of new medicines are launched in a timely manner in Europe today. And so I see that going down. I think there'll be even fewer, lower percentage of innovative medicines that are launched, or they might only be launched in the private market, not in the government reimbursed market.”

“I don't support eroding IP. I mean IP is the lifeblood of our industry but I think all of the tech industries that also I know you you cover without that IP protection we would never make the return and and I think it's always worth remembering once as you know once we finish our IP protection our medicines become very cheap.”

“I think the president identified a very valid issue which is when you look at what underpins the R&D in our industry, it's been primarily the United States. The United States is the source of more than half the profits of the industry. And without the United States, you wouldn't have all of these innovations, all these incredible medicines. So, we need to find a way now to have a more balanced approach to to to actua”

“We unlocked almost $180 billion dollars of value by doing that. We took this company that was a conglomerate and we turned it into four companies.”

“I think the big challenge will be now how does that Europe respond to that MFN because that's going to change the whole European marketplace for for medicines.”

“I think really what's going to happen here is you're going to have fewer launches in public markets in the target countries outside of the United States. So I think prices in the US will adjust but they'll adjust modestly. I think really what you're going to have is a situation that unless overseas countries uh these particularly as the administration is focused on the G7 plus Switzerland and Denmark if they don't ra”

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