Novartis aims to hold global position in oncology, with new drugs and indications, R&D meeting told

Swiss drug giant Novartis gave an upbeat presentation on its oncology R&D pipeline to investors today, outlining plans to file for approval of two drugs this year and up to five regulatory submissions in 2010, as the company faces some significant patent expiries on current blockbusters.

These include its hypertension drug Diovan (valsartan), which loses patent cover in Europe in 2011 and in the USA in 2012. In fact, according to a recent note form analysts at UBS, Novartis drugs which will lose protection by 2015 represented 26%, or $11 billion, of the group's 2008 revenue.

Novartis said it plans to expand its oncology portfolio, exploring new indications for marketed drugs, adding that it has robust development pipeline progressing with 16 new molecular entities.