Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan says 'no change of plans'

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Novartis chief executive officer Vas Narasimhan on Tuesday said he will lead the Swiss drugmaker through its next phase of growth as it prepares for a series of key drug trial data announcements later this year.

"No change of plans for me," he told journalists on a call after the company posted a second-quarter profit that beat analysts' expectations.

"I'm looking forward to the (trial) readouts in the second half, the launches for next year, continuing our AI transformation, a lot to do," he said.

Narasimhan, who has held the top post since 2018, is leading the drugmaker through its most severe period of patent expiries including for its blockbuster heart failure drug Entresto.

(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Marleen Käsebier, Editing by Louise Heavens)