Q1 2025 Sandoz Group AG Corporate Sales Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Victor Floc'h - BNP Paribas - Analyst : Hey, thanks. Thanks a lot and good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. A couple of questions on my side. So first of all, could you work it through the rationale behind the deal announced yesterday night and potentially comment on whether we should expect further deals of that kind moving forward. And then my second question is on Stelara. So we heard that J&J has been denied preliminary injunction. Just clearing the way for private label launch. Any chance you could update us on your expectation for Pyzchiva for the remainder of the year? Is Iremos still a good proxy or would that be fair to assume a quicker ramp up? Thanks so much.

Question: Victor Floc'h - BNP Paribas - Analyst : Okay. Thanks.

Question: Harry Sefton - UBS - Analyst : Brilliant. Thank you very much for taking my questions. So the first one is just in the biosimilar performance in the first quarter. So you'd quite well flagged that we're going to see some headwind from the similarly withdrawal. But if you look at the performances a about USD100 million sequential decline on the fourth quarter of last year. So can you just give us some help on what were the contributing factors to such a weak quarter on the biosimilar sales? And then maybe on the -- you called out the adalimumab pricing as a headwind in the US. We haven't really seen biosimilar pricing being a material issue to date. So it'd be helpful if you could clarify what was driving that, was that competition with other manufacturers looking to compete on your contract with CVS and you were defending against that or were there any other factors? Thank you.

Question: Thibault Lutheran - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Hello, can you hear me? Okay. Thank you. Sorry about that. So my first question is just on the [Sinova] market, and the bio penetration here. When you look at IQV data, we see so far very, limited penetration, including for Amgen which, has a private level deal as well. So first of all, do the data reflect what you're seeing on the market? And so on, sort of you could help us understand how you think this need to ever for the rest of the year? And so one question just on the (inaudible) trial and also minimizing this trial based on the feedback you're getting from agencies and other elements. Just if you could, give us in the long terms of the food and takes you're expecting for the industry because on one side this is helpful following and the costs for development, but at the same time it, it's also lowering the buyers to entry very similar so if you could, sort of give us what you think the net is for those -- I guess, existing players? Thank you.

Question: Florence Esperez - Bernstein - Analyst : Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much for taking my questions. Two or maybe three quick ones. First on Tyruko, could we have a quick update on your discussion regarding your GCV assay as you said (technical difficulty)

Question: Florence Esperez - Bernstein - Analyst : Second question may be on to come back on.

Question: Florence Esperez - Bernstein - Analyst : I can update you on that.

Question: Florence Esperez - Bernstein - Analyst : Can you hear me now?

Question: Florence Esperez - Bernstein - Analyst : Oh, so, okay, apologize for that. I know what's going on. So my second question is on a GLP-1 strategy. Could you remind us if you would be interested to launch products in diabetes and obesity as early as next year in countries such as Canada and Brazil or if it's not necessarily an attractive market for you? And last question, big picture questions on tariffs. Do you believe that the biosimilars may be excluded from tariffs because, given the profile of the products at the end of the day, this would favor the branded products. So I'd like to have your thoughts on this, really important question for patients and for the industry. Thank you.

Question: Florence Esperez - Bernstein - Analyst : Good. Thank you very much for here. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 30, 2025 / 7:00AM, SDZ.S - Q1 2025 Sandoz Group AG Corporate Sales Call

Question: Simon Baker - Redburn Atlantic - Analyst : Thank you for taking my questions. Two if I may. Just a clarification, just going back to Thibault's question on, Pembrolizumab, development, as you said, that's in progress. You've got a 720 patient, Phase 3 study ongoing. Presumably you'll stop enrolment. I just wonder if you could give us some idea of how enrolled that study is. And then moving on to hire models, there have been a lot of moving parts there. You talked about pricing. If we look at the scripts, it looks like there was an acceleration in sequential growth in March. On Friday, AI cut their US ustekinumab guidance for the year by $500 million. So taking all that together, how is higher Imeros tracking in 2025 in the US versus your original expectations? And then a question for Remco, you alluded to the success of the recent bond auction. You've got by far the strongest balance sheet in the sector. So I just wondering if you could update us on your appetite and opportunities for M&A. Thanks so much.

Question: Simon Baker - Redburn Atlantic - Analyst : Right. Thanks so much. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 30, 2025 / 7:00AM, SDZ.S - Q1 2025 Sandoz Group AG Corporate Sales Call

Question: James Gordon - JPMorgan Chase & Co. - Analyst : Hello, James Gordon, JP Morgan. Thanks for taking the questions. Firstly, just an update on tariffs, please. So if it was the case that tariffs came in such that it was on all your products, or your API from outside the US, just what would that now do? And maybe how would it change over time? So where are we in terms of bringing lots of inventory into the US, which presuming you've been doing, and maybe would you even move some sourcing or manufacturing, how might you mitigate? Also, any thoughts on how quickly you might be able to move prices up if there were new tariffs announced? I know some companies have suggested that their existing contracts are hard to move prices up, but they could opt out of existing contracts and then try and renegotiate. So if you could talk about that, please? And then the second one was just on Hyrimoz, the comments were helpful for the US, but overall, do you think, Hyrimoz is still going to be a significant growth driver for you for this year in the US with the worst pricing, but with volume still sounding good?

Question: James Gordon - JPMorgan Chase & Co. - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Siddhartha Modi - Barclays Bank Plc - Analyst : Hi there. Siddhartha Modi on behalf of Emily Field from Barclays. Just one question on the deal yesterday. Like, I just wanted to ask you when is the earliest that you can launch this product and if this is baked in into your midterm guidance, so we should expect an increase in the mid-term guidance based on this? Thank you so much.

Question: Siddhartha Modi - Barclays Bank Plc - Analyst : Thank you so much. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 30, 2025 / 7:00AM, SDZ.S - Q1 2025 Sandoz Group AG Corporate Sales Call

Question: Joris Zimmermann - Octavian AG - Analyst : Yeah, hi, Joris Zimmermann from Octavian on the line. Two quick questions if you allow. The first one is on [Chimerly], and you mentioned the impact of the acquisition in Q1 and the temporary halt. Can you help us understand how we should have this moving forward? So what does it mean in terms of timelines and potentially impact that we still see in Q2? And the second question is on the regulatory changes that you highlighted. You've already taken action with the Phase 3 trials. Does that already impact also the costs in development and regulatory this year? Thank you so much.

Question: Joris Zimmermann - Octavian AG - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Alastair Campbell - RBC - Analyst : Just checking in here, please. Yes. Hello. Yeah, it's brilliant, thanks. Well, the question, it's morning, yeah. It's a top level one, just thinking about sort of the big three PBMs and seeing how they're adjusting their formularies, evolving formulas for (inaudible) coming in 2025, and it sort of feels like they are increasingly prioritizing private label options, and so it feels like in the future you're going to have to align with at least one of these big three to have a good chance of commercial success in in pharmacy benefit. Do you think that's true, and do you think that's ultimately good or bad for Sandoz? Thank you. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 30, 2025 / 7:00AM, SDZ.S - Q1 2025 Sandoz Group AG Corporate Sales Call

Question: Alastair Campbell - RBC - Analyst : Thanks, Richard.

Question: Graham Parry - Bank of America - Analyst : Great, thanks for taking my question. Just want to follow up on the comments around the sort of broader tariffs if they were introduced. So if you did have a sort of blanket 25% tariff for all products being imported into the US, you, Remco, you're indicating that you felt that you could manage that within the guide this year. But how much of that is because of shipping of inventory ahead of implementation of a tariff like that and the likelihood that it would be introduced later in the year, given it would be to the 232 investigation? Perhaps, you could help us by giving us what sort of impact you might expect to see on an annualized basis as you did at the beginning of the year if you saw that sort of tariff implemented? And then secondly, just I'd be interested in your thoughts on or updated thoughts on capacity expansion plans and what's needed for any GLP-1 launches for Canada and Mexico next year? Thank you.

Question: Graham Parry - Bank of America - Analyst : Yeah, got it. And so -- and that was based on first sale as opposed to transfer price, so I just want to make sure I understood it properly.

Question: Graham Parry - Bank of America - Analyst : Right. Okay. Thank you.

Question: Graham Parry - Bank of America - Analyst : Thank you. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 30, 2025 / 7:00AM, SDZ.S - Q1 2025 Sandoz Group AG Corporate Sales Call

Question: Victoria Lambert - Berenberg Bank - Analyst : Thanks for taking my question. It's just on denosumab. We've had quite a few approvals from some competitors recently, so just would like to get a sense of how you think this market's going to develop because it's through the hospital channel. It seems that's a bit easier to take share and it happens pretty quickly compared to the PBM channel. So just wanting to get a sense of how you see the phasing of market share and how competitive you think this market's going to be? Thank you.