5 Most Profitable Biotech Companies in the World

2. Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25

Net Income (TTM): $24.02 billion

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) is one of the largest biopharmaceutical firms in the world. It is based in Switzerland, and offers a range of therapies for diseases in the therapeutic areas of ophthalmology, neuroscience, immunology, hepatology, dermatology, respiratory and cardiovascular. In December 2021, Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) announced that over the next five years, it was expecting sales growth of at least 4% owing to growing demand for new drugs. In these five years, Novartis expects the approval of 20 new drug products with sales potential of more than $1 billion. In 2020, medical products by Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) reached 800 million people around the globe.

On March 23, Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its cancer drug called Pluvicto, which treats adults with a certain type of advanced prostrate cancer. In 2019, Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft, in a bid to leverage the firm’s AI capabilities to accelerate drug discovery for patients around the world. Microsoft is helping Novartis’ scientists with cutting-edge technology platforms that use algorithms to find trends and patterns within huge sets of data, and thereby fasten the drug discovery process.

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) posted an annual revenue of $52.87 billion for 2021, showing a 5.97% increase from the previous year. Out of all the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Fisher Asset Management was the leading shareholder in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), with a stake consisting of 10.38 million shares valued at $908.34 million.

Investment firm Oakmark Funds mentioned Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in its Q4 2020 investor letter. The fund said:

“Novartis is one of Europe’s largest pharmaceutical companies and possesses a highly diversified portfolio of innovative products. Its share price underperformed both the broader market and its pharma peers during 2020, largely due to a few disappointing late-stage trials and the company’s lack of Covid-19-related therapeutics or vaccines. These short-term issues provided us with an attractive entry point to invest in a leading pharmaceutical franchise with compelling economics. We estimate that the market is currently ascribing almost no value to Novartis’ pipeline despite the company’s excellent track record in new drug development. We expect that Novartis will deliver mid-single-digit, top-line growth and expand margins over the next five years as a result of its cost-savings plan. The company possesses one of the most diversified product portfolios in the pharma industry with 15 $1b+ compounds, which reduces its reliance on any single compound.”