Pharmaceuticals

Market

The pharmaceuticals market experienced currency-adjusted growth of approximately 9%^{1, 2} in 2025. The US market was the biggest driver, accounting for over half of global growth. In terms of therapeutic areas, drugs to treat metabolic disorders (GLP-1s) as well as oncology medicines saw strong increases and were therefore the main growth drivers for the global pharmaceuticals market.

Sales

Sales at Pharmaceuticals increased by 1.7% (Fx & portfolio adj.) to €17,829 million in 2025. We again registered significant gains for Nubeqa™ and Kerendia™, while our Radiology business and Mirena™ product family continued to deliver very strong performance. By contrast, business headwinds mainly related to declines for Xarelto™ due to patent expirations, as well as lower Eylea™ sales.

• Sales of our ophthalmology drug Eylea™ were down against the prior year. Business was mainly impacted by lower prices, especially in Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan, as well as competitive pressure from generics. By contrast, the launch of Eylea™ 8 mg offering extended treatment intervals provided a significant boost, accounting for around 26% of overall Eylea™ sales.

• Business with our cancer drug Nubeqa™ expanded significantly in all regions. The product therefore maintained its growth momentum, especially in the United States and Europe, with strong increases in volumes. However, prices in the United States were negatively impacted by the Inflation Reduction Act.

• As expected, sales of our oral anticoagulant Xarelto™ decreased markedly as a result of competitive pressure from generics, especially in Europe and Japan. License revenues – recognized as sales – in the United States, where Xarelto™ is marketed by a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, were up against the prior year.

• Sales of Kerendia™, our product for the treatment of chronic kidney disease associated with type 2 diabetes, as well as heart failure, rose considerably across all regions. Growth was primarily fueled by gains in the United States and China.

• Sales of our long-term contraceptives in the Mirena™ product family advanced by a double-digit percentage, with growth largely driven by higher volumes in the United States.

• Our pulmonary hypertension treatment Adempas™ posted a strong rise in sales that was primarily attributable to higher volumes in the United States. As in the past, sales reflected the proportionate recognition of the upfront and milestone payments resulting from the sGC collaboration with Merck & Co., United States.

• We also registered further gains for our oral contraceptives in the YAZ™ product family, especially in China.

• Sales of our Kovaltry™/Jivi™ blood-clotting medicines declined, largely due to lower volumes in the United States and Europe as a result of competitive pressure.

• Sales of Aspirin™ Cardio, our product for the secondary prevention of heart attacks, and Stivarga™, our cancer drug, declined substantially in China as a result of the country’s volume-based procurement policy.

• Business with Adalat™, our product for the treatment of hypertension and coronary heart disease, benefited from a strong rise in volumes in China.

• Our Radiology business, which includes products such as Ultravist™ and CT Fluid Delivery, continued to post very strong gains that were fueled by volume growth.

Earnings

EBITDA before special items decreased by 4.2% to €4,525 million in 2025 (2024: €4,722 million). The decline in earnings was mainly attributable to an increase in selling expenses that primarily related to the launch of Nubeqa™ and Kerendia™ in new indications as well as the market launch of Lynkuet™ (elinzanetant), Beyonttra™ (acoramidis) and Hyrnuo™ (sevabertinib). There was also a negative currency effect of €213 million (2024: €491 million). Earnings were additionally diminished by higher investments in early-stage research and in our cell and gene therapy and chemoproteomics technologies. By contrast, an inventory write-down reversal and lower expenses for late-stage clinical development projects had a positive impact. In addition, negative pricing developments in connection with patent expirations and the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States were fully offset by a strong increase in volumes. The EBITDA margin before special items declined by 0.6 percentage points to 25.4%.

EBIT at Pharmaceuticals increased by a substantial 12.1% to €3,127 million (2024: €2,790 million) after net special charges of €264 million (2024: €578 million). The special charges were mainly attributable to ongoing restructuring projects and impairment losses on intangible assets that arose as part of the regular annual impairment testing in the fourth quarter. By contrast, special gains primarily arose from the measurement of contingent considerations at fair value.

Fourth quarter of 2025

Sales

Sales at Pharmaceuticals increased by 1.7% (Fx & portfolio adj.) to €4,476 million in the fourth quarter. We again posted significant gains for Nubeqa™ and Kerendia™, while our Radiology business and YAZ™ product family delivered strong growth. By contrast, we registered significant declines for Xarelto™ due to patent expirations, as well as lower Eylea™ sales.

Eylea™ sales declined markedly, with business mainly impacted by increased competitive and pricing pressure from generics. However, the launch of Eylea™ 8 mg offering extended treatment intervals provided a significant boost, accounting for around 38% of overall Eylea™ sales. As expected, Xarelto™ sales declined significantly due to competitive pressure from generics, especially in Europe and Japan. Nubeqa™ sales increased by a double-digit percentage, with gains in all regions. Kerendia™ sales also advanced significantly, especially in the United States and China. Sales of Aspirin™ Cardio and Stivarga™ declined substantially, with business primarily down in China. We posted significant gains for our YAZ™ product family, mainly fueled by volume growth in China. Sales of Adempas™ also increased substantially, largely driven by business performance in the United States. Our Radiology business, which includes products such as Ultravist™ and CT Fluid Delivery, registered a strong increase in sales thanks to higher volumes across all regions.

Earnings

EBITDA before special items declined by 5.4% to €1,044 million in the fourth quarter (Q4 2024: €1,104 million). Earnings were primarily impacted by higher selling expenses for marketing our new products as well as a negative currency effect of €54 million (Q4 2024: €80 million). By contrast, an inventory write-down reversal had a positive impact. Furthermore, we were able to partially offset higher investments in early-stage research and our cell and gene therapy and chemoproteomics technologies thanks to lower expenses for projects in advanced clinical development. The EBITDA margin before special items declined by 0.4 percentage points to 23.3%.

EBIT at Pharmaceuticals rose substantially in the fourth quarter, coming in at €582 million (Q4 2024: €110 million) after net special charges of €80 million (Q4 2024: €355 million). The special charges were mainly attributable to ongoing restructuring projects and impairment losses on intangible assets that arose as part of the regular annual impairment testing in the fourth quarter. By contrast, special gains primarily arose from the measurement of contingent considerations at fair value.

1 Source: IQVIA Market Prognosis (as of September 2025); all rights reserved
2 Source: IQVIA The Global Use of Medicines Outlook through 2029 (as of June 2025); all rights reserved