Last checked at 
Dec 6 (Reuters) - Novartis hopes to still play a
role in the development of COVID-19 treatments with research
ongoing for a pill that could work broadly against
coronaviruses, not just the one that causes COVID-19, chief
executive Vas Narasimhan told Reuters.
In an interview following his recent presentation at Total
Health last week, the head of the Swiss drugmaker pointed to
Novartis' manufacturing support to COVID-19 vaccine and drug
makers when asked if it had been on the sidelines during the
pandemic.
"Now I would have loved for some of our own clinical trials
to have worked out, but they didn't. I mean, that's part of the
deal," Narasimhan said.
"I think we as a sector have collaborated extremely well to
ultimately be the industry that enabled this pandemic over time
to eventually be under control."
Many drugmakers including AstraZeneca sold
treatments at cost during the pandemic, but are now looking to
start making profits as some parts of the world reopen.
"I think in order to have companies invest in the long run
for pandemic preparedness, there has to be a reasonable economic
benefit to the companies," Narasimhan said. "I think that has to
be clear and understood by all involved."
Novartis last year had signed a deal with Molecular Partners
to develop two DARPin-based therapies as potential COVID-19
treatments.
A new readout from studies of one of those treatments is
expected in January, and the duo will then decide on next steps
based on that data, Narasimhan said.
The company last week said it was confident of delivering
annual revenue growth of 4% or higher until 2026, as it banks on
multi-billion dollar sales of experimental and approved drugs
including arthritis and psoriasis medicine Cosentyx.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru, Editing by Louise
Heavens)
