Novartis highlights its strong foundation for long-term, sustainable growth at the third Meet Novartis Management event

In the Alcon session, investors and analysts are able to meet with Mike Ball for the first time since he joined the company, and get more insight into his perspective on the business and the growth acceleration plan. Management highlights progress in accelerating innovation, with the launch of UltraSert^TM and PanOptix^® across multiple regions, development of Clareon^TM on track, closing of three business development deals in 60 days, and execution of promotional programs behind key contact lens brands.

Similarly, in the NIBR session, investors and analysts have the opportunity to meet with new leadership, including Jay Bradner, and understand the new focus and expertise he brings to the organization. As a well-established center of academic research and thought leadership, NIBR is a competitive advantage for Novartis, with a broad and deep pipeline of approximately 400 assets spanning therapeutic areas with significant unmet needs. Novartis led the industry with five new drugs approved in 2015, four of which originated at NIBR.

Finally, the Group session reinforces the longer term growth prospects for Novartis. We expect to establish new breakthrough medicines, leverage productivity to improve profitability, and execute strong capex discipline and free cash flow management. We expect that this will allow us to continue to increase the dividend while growing the company in a sustainable way.

For background slides and webcast (audio only) please refer to the following link: http://www.novartis.com/investors/event-calendar/index.shtml

Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by words such as "foundation," "long-term," "underway," "accelerate," "launch," "on track," "progress," "growth acceleration plan," "strategy," "need to," "innovation," "will," "working to," "recommendation," "recommend," "call for," "planned," "continued," "initiated," "efforts," "potentially," "well positioned," "commitment," "pipeline," "would," "focus," "expected," "trajectory," "expect," "breakthrough," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential new products, potential new indications for existing products, or regarding potential future revenues from any such products; potential shareholder returns or credit ratings; or regarding any potential financial or other impact on Novartis or any of our divisions as a result of the creation of the Pharmaceuticals and Oncology business units within our Innovative Medicines Division, as a result of the recently announced changes in leadership, or as a result of the strategic actions announced in January 2016 to focus our divisions, integrate certain functions and leverage our scale; or regarding any potential financial or other impact on Novartis as a result of the creation and operation of NBS; or regarding the potential financial or other impact on Novartis of the transactions with GSK, Lilly or CSL; or regarding potential future sales or earnings of the Novartis Group or any of its divisions; or by discussions of strategy, plans, expectations or intentions. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward looking statements. There can be no guarantee that any new products will be approved for sale in any market, or that any new indications will be approved for any existing products in any market, or that any approvals which are obtained will be obtained at any particular time, or that any such products will achieve any particular revenue levels. Nor can there be any guarantee that Novartis will be able to realize any of the potential strategic benefits, synergies or opportunities as a result of the creation of the Pharmaceuticals and Oncology business units within our Innovative Medicines Division, the recently announced changes in leadership, the strategic actions announced in January 2016, the creation and operation of NBS, or the transactions with GSK, Lilly and CSL. Neither can there be any guarantee that Novartis or any of the businesses involved in these changes or transactions will achieve any particular financial results in the future. Neither can there be any guarantee that shareholders will achieve any particular level of shareholder returns. Nor can there be any guarantee that the Group, or any of its divisions, will be commercially successful in the future, or achieve any particular credit rating. In particular, management's expectations could be affected by, among other things: unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the potential that the strategic benefits, synergies or opportunities expected from the creation of the Pharmaceuticals and Oncology business units within our Innovative Medicines Division, the recently announced changes in leadership, the strategic actions announced in January 2016, the creation and operation of NBS, or the transactions with GSK, Lilly and CSL may not be realized or may take longer to realize than expected; the inherent uncertainties involved in predicting shareholder returns or credit ratings; the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including unexpected clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection, including the ultimate extent of the impact on Novartis of the loss of patent protection and exclusivity on key products which commenced in prior years and continues this year; unexpected safety, quality or manufacturing issues; global trends toward health care cost containment, including ongoing pricing pressures, in particular from increased publicity on pharmaceuticals pricing; uncertainties regarding actual or potential legal proceedings, including, among others, actual or potential product liability litigation, litigation and investigations regarding sales and marketing practices, government investigations and intellectual property disputes; general economic and industry conditions, including uncertainties regarding the effects of the persistently weak economic and financial environment in many countries; uncertainties regarding future global exchange rates, including the increases in value of the US dollar, our reporting currency, against a number of currencies; uncertainties regarding future demand for our products; uncertainties involved in the development of new healthcare products; uncertainties regarding potential significant breaches of data security or disruptions of our information technology systems; and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Novartis
Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care and cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2015, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.4 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 8.9 billion (USD 8.7 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are available in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

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