Novartis sales disappoint as Diovan patent loss bites

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Novartis posted lower-than-expected third quarter sales on Thursday, dragged down by the loss of a U.S. patent on its top-selling blood pressure drug Diovan and lower sales at its Sandoz unit. Third-quarter net sales fell 2 percent to $13.807 billion, falling short of the average forecast in a Reuters poll of $14.032 billion, while core earnings per share fell 6 percent to $1.34, in line with consensus. Novartis is facing headwinds from a wave of patent expiries sweeping through the global pharmaceutical industry. …