Biopharma CEOs routinely set goals and make promises, and for the most part, they work tirelessly to keep those commitments. But in the past few years, CEOs and politicians have broken their promises with respect to M&A, litigation and more, even if some of their efforts are still ongoing. 

        We’re highlighting six such broken promises in this report, featuring executives from AbbVie, Allergan, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Novartis and Teva.

        Importantly, these aren’t the biggest broken promises from 2019. They’re not even limited to last year. A few stretch back years in the past, and that’s because these commitments often take years to play out. One earlier promise⁠—AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriots revenue pledge⁠—has yet to be achieved, so it made the list.

        Of course, drugmakers and executives routinely roll out their “forward-looking statements” warning shareholders that they don’t in fact know how the future will play out. Changing circumstances often require changing strategies. Still, its worth noting some promises by industry leaders that end up playing out.

        Looking forward, CEOs could be making promises now that we won’t be able to judge until a few years down the line. And this list doesnt include Elizabeth Holmes or Martin Shkreli, who have already garnered plenty of coverage for misleading or untrue statements of their own.

        This report features a claim from AbbVie’s Richard Gonzalez that his Shire buyout wasn’t primarily about taxes, plus statements from Bayer’s Werner Baumann about the company’s Monsanto buyout, and more.

        Those are biopharma’s top broken promises from recent years as we see them. — Eric Sagonowsky (email)