J&J’s pharma business is growing ahead of the Stelara patent cliff

For more than 2 years, Johnson & Johnson has been working on its future. In the wake of the consumer healthcare spinoff last summer, the company’s fourth-quarter results offer plenty of signs of life. J&J ended the year with a total haul of $85.2 billion, with multiple catalysts for growth, according to the company’s fourth quarter and full-year earnings conference call. In the fourth quarter of the year, the company’s innovative medicines portfolio generated the lion’s share of sales, helping the unit achieve operational growth in the U.S. The pharma business of J&J grew 4% to $13.72 billion during the fourth quarter of the year.

J&J said in an earnings presentation that its immunology blockbuster, Stelara, grew its market share and demonstrated continued strength in IBD. Thanks to market growth, the company’s plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis med was able to enjoy gains. In the fourth quarter, J&J’s Oncology group turned in another top performance. J&J’s multiple myeloma injection Darzalex had a sales increase of 22%, thanks to “strong share gains in all regions.” J&J credited the ongoing launch of the CAR-T med Carvykti, plus gains from manufacturing capacity improvements, for its continued success.

The CAR-T manufacturing boost is worldwide, from J&J doubling its cell processing capacity at its New Jersey plant to making progress at its European cell facilities and contracting external capacity to scale up production, according to the call. J&J is confident that the additional supply will lead to increased sales for Carvykti. J&J is about to launch a new multiple myeloma contender. While Carvykti often takes the spotlight in the company’s multiple myeloma franchise, it’s important to recognize the market performance of the two new bispecific antibodies.

The growth of J&J’s innovative medicines was partially offset by the loss of exclusivity for the leukemia and lymphoma drug Imbruvica. Despite the current strength of J&J’s innovative portfolio, the New Jersey-based pharma giant isn’t shying away from potential deals in 2024. The company is in a good position to entertain a lot of different types of deals. The company spent more than $3 billion in capital for smaller deals in the way of licenses or partnerships, and signed more than 50 deals, according to Duarto. Our appetite is still interested in moving into spaces that complement our existing portfolio, whether that be in the near or long term.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, J&J is still filling in some of the details, but the company expects 5% to 6% operational growth. J&J expects to deliver its 13th year of above-market growth in innovative medicines, with the performance driven by a handful of medicines. In the first half of the year, the growth of innovative medicines is expected to be slightly stronger. J&J expects to face generics in Europe in the back half of the 20th century. The recent launches of our products will partially offset this headwind.

Inspired by: https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/jj-reveals-new-face-major-oncology-bent-after-last-summers-healthcare-spinoff?itm_source=parsely-api