Pharmaceuticals

Second quarter of 2026

Sales

Sales at Pharmaceuticals came in at €4,458 million in the second quarter of 2026, and were therefore in line with the prior year (Fx & portfolio adj.: +0.8%). Nubeqa™ and Kerendia™ continued to post significant gains, while our Radiology business and Mirena™ product family also registered strong topline growth. By contrast, we recorded substantially lower Eylea™ and Xarelto™ sales due to patent expirations.

• Sales of our cancer drug Nubeqa™ continued to rise significantly, with gains in all regions. The product therefore maintained its growth momentum, especially in the United States and Europe, with strong increases in volumes.

• Sales of our ophthalmology drug Eylea™ decreased markedly due to competitive pressure from generics, especially in Europe and Canada. The 8 mg formulation offering extended treatment intervals accounted for around 55% of overall Eylea™ sales.

• Our Radiology business, which includes products such as Ultravist™ and CT Fluid Delivery, continued to post strong gains. Business benefited from higher volumes, while prices remained stable.

• As expected, sales of our oral anticoagulant Xarelto™ decreased markedly as a result of competitive pressure from generics, especially in Europe. 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 quarter.

• Our long-term contraceptives in the Mirena™ product family delivered very strong topline performance, mainly driven by growth in the United States.

• We also achieved considerable gains for Kerendia™, our product for the treatment of chronic kidney disease associated with type 2 diabetes, as well as heart failure. Growth was primarily fueled by a substantial rise in volumes in the United States and China.

• Sales of our oral contraceptives in the YAZ™ product family likewise continued to grow, especially in China.

• Sales of Aspirin™ Cardio, our product for the secondary prevention of heart attacks, and Stivarga™, our cancer drug, declined in China as a result of the country’s volume-based procurement policy. By contrast, sales of Adalat™, our product for the treatment of hypertension and coronary heart disease, were up in China thanks primarily to a significant increase in volumes.

• Sales of our Kovaltry™/Jivi™ blood-clotting medicines decreased markedly as a result of competitive pressure, with business down in a number of markets, including the United States and Europe.

Earnings

EBITDA before special items at Pharmaceuticals decreased by 3.6% to €1,055 million in the second quarter of 2026 (Q2 2025: €1,094 million). The decline in earnings was largely attributable to an increase in selling expenses that primarily related to the marketing of Lynkuet™, Nubeqa™ and Kerendia™. Furthermore, the prior-year period had benefited from income from the sale of non-core businesses. There was also a negative currency effect of €27 million (Q2 2025: €65 million). By contrast, earnings benefited from a reduction in allocations to provisions for the Group-wide short-term incentive (STI) program, as well as an inventory write-back. In addition, strong volume gains more than offset the impact of price declines, which were primarily attributable to patent expirations. The EBITDA margin before special items decreased by 0.8 percentage points to 23.7%.

EBIT came in at €799 million in the second quarter of 2026 (Q2 2025: €798 million) after special gains of €4 million (Q2 2025: net special charges of €32 million).

First half of 2026

Sales

Sales at Pharmaceuticals came in at €8,707 million in the first half of 2026, and were therefore in line with the prior year (Fx & portfolio adj. +0.2%). We again registered significant gains for Nubeqa™ and Kerendia™, while our Radiology business continued to deliver very strong performance. By contrast, business headwinds mainly related to declines for Xarelto™ and Eylea™ due to patent expirations.

Nubeqa™ sales continued to rise substantially thanks to higher volumes, with business mainly up in the United States and Europe. We also saw continued growth momentum for Kerendia™, registering a strong rise in volumes in the United States and China in particular. By contrast, Xarelto™ sales declined due to competitive pressure from generics, as expected. In addition, Eylea™ sales were down substantially, with business mainly impacted by negative price developments and lower volumes due to competitive pressure from generics. The 8 mg formulation offering extended treatment intervals accounted for around 50% of overall Eylea™ sales. Our Radiology business, which includes products such as Ultravist™ and CT Fluid Delivery, continued to post strong gains. Business benefited from higher volumes, while prices remained stable. Our long-term contraceptives in the Mirena™ product family delivered solid performance. Adempas™ sales also advanced, mainly driven by business in the United States. Sales of Aspirin™ Cardio and Stivarga™ declined markedly in China as a result of the country’s volume-based procurement policy. Kovaltry™/Jivi™ sales decreased substantially due to competitive pressure, with business down in a number of markets, including Europe and China. By contrast, we recorded an increase in Adalat™ sales in China that was mainly driven by a significant rise in volumes.

Earnings

EBITDA before special items at Pharmaceuticals decreased by 5.7% to €2,297 million in the first half of 2026. The decline in earnings was primarily attributable to an increase in selling expenses that largely related to the marketing of Lynkuet™, Nubeqa™ and Kerendia™, as well as higher investments in R&D. There was also a negative currency effect of €104 million (H1 2025: €113 million). By contrast, earnings benefited from a reduction in allocations to provisions for the Group-wide short-term incentive (STI) program, as well as an inventory write-back and lower inventory write-offs, and higher income from the sale of noncore businesses. In addition, strong volume gains more than offset the impact of price declines, which were primarily attributable to patent expirations. The EBITDA margin before special items decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 26.4%.

EBIT came in at €2,030 million (H1 2025: €1,787 million) after special gains of €282 million (H1 2025: special charges of €146 million) that mainly related to divestments.