With all the fretting from the pharmaceutical industry about competition from China, patent protection losses, price reduction initiatives and other government measures with the potential to hit profits, one might think that drugmakers are struggling these days to make a buck.
Not so, according to the second quarter financial results. During the period, nine of the industry’s top 25 drugmakers accomplished year-over-year double-digit revenue increases. The lone company in the top 25 that saw a sales decrease was Teva and that came in at less than 1%.
The revenue boom was even more pronounced when comparing figures between the first and second quarters. Of the top 25 drugmakers, more than half (13) realized double-digit sequential gains and only one, Daiichi Sankyo, saw a decline, at 2%.
While biopharma companies typically expect sales to increase from the first to the second quarter, double-digit gains are not the norm. From the first to second quarter of 2025, for example, there were five companies that achieved double-digit sequential increases to go along with three drugmakers in decline. In 2024, six companies had double-digit sequential increases from Q1 to Q2, while three saw a decrease.
With sales booming in 2026's Q2, 16 of the top 25 companies raised their 2026 guidance. Some of the increases were particularly notable, including a $2.75 billion increase at the midpoint from Bristol Myers Squibb, which credited the boost to surprisingly robust sales of Eliquis. BMS now expects resales from the aging blood thinner to increase by between 20% and 25%, versus a previous expectation of 10% to 15%.
Eli Lilly raised the midpoint of its guidance by $2.5 billion, which was no surprise as quarterly increases in projected revenue have been standard practice for the Indianapolis drugmaker thanks to staggering sales of its tirzepatide products. After the first quarter, for example, Lilly hiked its annual projection by $2 billion at the midpoint. In 2025, the company opened the year projecting sales of between $58 and $61 billion before closing the year with a haul of $65 billion.
Providing the biggest guidance double-take, however, was Novo Nordisk. After projecting three months earlier that its revenue would decline by between 4% and 12% this year, the Danish company adjusted its projection to a 0% to 6% decline window. Much of the catalyst for the upgrade is the company’s promising launch of its oral version of obesity drug Wegovy, which generated sales of 3.22 billion Danish kroner ($497 million) in the second quarter.
Regeneron, Sanofi fueled by Dupixent
Nine years after it first reached the market, meanwhile, Dupixent is getting its second wind as an anti-inflammatory powerhouse—and its co-developers are enjoying the ride. Sanofi and Regeneron achieved year-over-year revenue increases of 16% and 17%, respectively, in the second quarter. The companies' sales were up sequentially by 10% and 19%, respectively. This marked the largest quarterly gain for Sanofi since Q2 of 2022, when its sales spike also was largely attributed to Dupixent.
The key to Dupixent’s rejuvenation has come in the form of label expansions over the last two years to treat diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), bullous pemphigoid (BP) and allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS).
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Dupixent’s growth had shrunk to 15%. But approaching two years on, sales have increased significantly. In the second quarter of this year, Sanofi reported worldwide revenue from Dupixent up 38% year over year, reaching 5.2 billion euros ($6 billion) for the period.
With the results, Sanofi boosted its projection for the IL-4/IL-13 inhibitor to achieve sales of 25 billion euros in 2030. That date looms large as it is the last year that Sanofi and Regeneron are expected to hold patent protection for Dupixent. During the company's recent earnings call, however, Sanofi’s legal chief Roy Papatheodorou said that the company expects extend its exclusivity rights beyond 2031.
Lilly leads rankings for 7th straight quarter
For its part, Eli Lilly had another quarter of outsized growth at 48%, despite some unexpected struggles in the launch of its oral obesity drug Foundayo. Lilly reported sales of the GLP-1 pill at $98 million in the period, lagging well behind those of Novo Nordisk’s rival weight-loss pill Wegovy, which had a three-month, first-to-market advantage.
Nevertheless, Lilly topped the industry rankings for the seventh straight quarter and did it with ease over second-place Astellas (+27%). During its recent metabolic medicine run, Lilly has achieved quarterly year-over-year sales of at least 38% in each period, carried by the success of its tirzepatide products.
In Q2, Lilly reported worldwide sales of Mounjaro at $9.9 billion, which were up 91%, and Zepbound at $4.9 billion, good for a 46% year-over-year increase. Helping explain the disparity in sales between the two is that outside the U.S., Mounjaro is the brand name for the medication's use in both Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Meanwhile, Lilly continued to put distance between itself and Novo in the sales of their injected diabetes and obesity products. Novo reported quarterly sales of Ozempic for diabetes at around 31.4 billion Danish kroner ($4.8 billion), which were down 6%, and injected Wegovy at 19.5 billion Danish kroner ($3.0 billion), which were up 3%.
Japanese trio continues to excel
Meanwhile, three of the nine companies that pulled off double-digit revenue increases in the quarter are based in Japan. This is nothing new for Astellas, which achieved a 27% sales boost in the period, signaling the ninth time in the last 10 quarters that the company has delivered double digit growth. Those days are likely to end soon, however, as Astellas is expected to lose patent protection in the U.S. next year for prostate cancer treatment Xtandi, which accounted for sales of 277 billion Japanese yen ($1.7 billion) in the quarter, up 19% and accounting (PDF) for 43% of Astellas’ revenue.
Daiichi Sankyo achieved a 21% revenue increase in the quarter, which also has been commonplace for the Tokyo-based drugmaker, as it has seen double-digit growth in each of the last four years on the success of its ADC blockbuster Enhertu. During its quarterly presentation earlier this year, Daiichi unveiled a 5-year plan to become one of the top five oncology companies in the industry, establishing a goal to reach sales of 3 trillion yen ($19.1 billion) in 2030, up from 2.1 trillion yen ($13.2 billion) in its 2025 fiscal year.
After stagnant sales in 2025, Takeda has regained its footing too as it posted a 10% revenue increase in the most recent period. The last time the company achieved double-digit growth was in the second quarter of FY 2024. After bearing the brunt of the loss of patent protection for ADHD drug Vyvanse last year, Takeda is back in growth mode thanks to its top-selling product Entyvio and a clutch of new drugs, including Fruzaqla, Livtencity and newly approved narcolepsy treatment Orzeyful.
Other double-digit gainers
With a 10% boost in Q2, AbbVie had its third straight quarter of double-digit growth. The last time the Illinois company put three double-digit quarters together was in 2021, when its immunology superstar Humira was in its prime. After four straight quarters of sales declines in 2023 as Humira faced biosimilar competition, AbbVie has recovered behind Skyrizi and Rinvoq.
In the second quarter, Skyrizi achieved a landmark, generating sales of $5.55 billion and prompting the company to increase its revenue projection for Skyrizi to $21.7 billion for this year. The figure would top the $21.2 billion sales high achieved by Humira in 2022, which was the megablockbuster's last full year of patent protection in the U.S.
Boehringer Ingelheim accomplished a 12% revenue increase for the first half of 2026, fueled largely by an increase in U.S. demand for Type 2 diabetes and heart failure medicine Jardiance. Also realizing a 12% increase in Q2 was Vertex, which has pulled off double-digit growth in four of the last five quarters thanks to its cystic fibrosis franchise. The company is anxious to expand its rare disease portfolio, however, as evidenced by its largest-ever acquisition last month of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals for $10 billion.
Other drugmakers likely poised to join the double-digit revenue club in the third quarter are Amgen, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb. The U.S. companies had respective sales increases of 9%, 8%, 7% and 6% in the second quarter, and each company also raised their 2026 sales guidance.