Sandoz CEO Richard Saynor, speaking at the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, outlined the company's strategy to lead what he termed the 'golden decade' for affordable medicines. The presentation highlighted Sandoz's progress since becoming a standalone company in 2023 and its unique position to capitalize on an unprecedented market opportunity where reference medicines worth more than USD 600 billion are due to lose exclusivity over the next ten years.
This development matters because affordable medicines account for 80% of medicines used globally at just 30% of the total cost, making healthcare more accessible. The impending loss of exclusivity for hundreds of billions of dollars worth of medicines represents a critical inflection point for global healthcare systems, patients, and the pharmaceutical industry. Sandoz, as the global leader in biosimilar and generic medicines, is positioning itself to capture a significant share of this market, which could substantially reduce healthcare costs worldwide while increasing treatment availability.
Saynor emphasized that Sandoz has consistently delivered on commitments since becoming independent, including six biosimilar launches in 2025 alone. The company has strengthened its manufacturing capabilities with major investments, including a USD 1.1 billion sterile biosimilars production center in Slovenia and the acquisition of Just-Evotec Biologics' site in Toulouse, France. These strategic moves support Sandoz's three pillars of leadership: global scale with 1,300 products supplied to over 100 countries, unique positioning as the only 'pure-play' biosimilar and generic company, and a respected leadership team backed by more than 20,000 employees.
The financial momentum underpinning this strategy is strong, with 2024 sales of USD 10 billion driven by double-digit growth in biosimilars. Sandoz forecasts mid-single digit annual sales growth to 2028, with core EBITDA margin expansion expected to reach 24% to 26%. The company is focused on growing its core generics business while pursuing a strategy of focused loss of exclusivity coverage, supported by a longer-term focus on the emerging GLP-1 market.
Of the USD 600 billion opportunity, the generic portion is valued at USD 340 billion, with Sandoz targeting nearly two-thirds through its pipeline of over 400 assets. The biosimilar opportunity is similarly substantial at USD 322 billion, with Sandoz targeting approximately 60 percent. A significant challenge remains the 'biosimilar void' where more than 50 biologics facing loss of exclusivity in the next seven years currently have no biosimilar planned due to high development costs. Sandoz has been leading industry efforts to streamline biosimilar development, which could help fill this void and decrease both cost and time to market.
The company's presentation materials are available at https://www.sandoz.com/investors/events-presentations after the conference. This strategic positioning comes at a critical time as healthcare systems worldwide face increasing pressure to control costs while expanding access to essential medicines. If successful, Sandoz's execution could make the next decade truly transformative for patient access to affordable treatments across multiple therapeutic areas.
