Novartis CEO Rates His Company a Six Out of Ten After Revamp

When asked to rate the performance of Novartis AG on a scale of zero to ten, the drugmaker’s chief executive officer gave his company six points.

“We always think of ourselves as a five,” Vas Narasimhan told analysts on a call Thursday, although in reality “maybe we’re like a six or a six and a half now,” he added.

Narasimhan was asked how he scored Novartis’ performance, just hours after the company lifted its medium-term sales guidance amid strong demand for some of its blockbuster drugs.

Read more: Novartis Lifts Outlook, Citing Cancer and Inflammatory Drugs

The Swiss company is ...