The Basel-based group, at the core of the Swiss pharmaceutical industry, said it now expects average annual sales growth to come in at around six percent for the 2023 to 2029 period, compared to a previous target of five percent.

By rolling forward the date to 2024, the group said it expects an average annual growth rate of five percent for the period between 2024 and 2030.

“Novartis has completed its transformation into a pure-play innovative medicines company, with deep expertise and capabilities across our core therapeutic areas and technology platforms,” indicated CEO Vas Narasimhan.

“Our focus has allowed us to sharpen our commercial execution and increase our peak sales estimates for Cosentyx, Kisqali, Kesimpta, Pluvicto and Leqvio, and we have more than 15 submission-enabling readouts in the coming years to further bolster our growth profile,” he said.

“Longer term, we’ve identified more than 30 assets in the pipeline with significant potential to rejuvenate our portfolio and support mid-single-digit growth post 2029. Taken together, we remain confident in our focused strategy and ability to deliver sustainable value creation for shareholders.”

Since Narasimhan’s arrival at the helm in 2018, the group has separated from its subsidiary Alcon, which specialises in ophthalmology, listing it separately, and from Sandoz, which specialises in generic medicines, in 2023, also through an IPO.

Such moves have seen the group refocus pharmaceutical division activities on four therapeutic areas — cardiovascular-renal-metabolic diseases, immunology, neuroscience and oncology.

Shares in Novartis edged ahead 0.3 percent in early trading on Thursday.