BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: JOHNSON & JOHNSON

J&J Beats Q3 Earnings Expectations After Dozens of Prescription Drug Price Hikes in 2022

This week, Johnson & Johnson kicked off third-quarter earnings reports for the pharmaceutical industry. The Big Pharma giant once again bested Wall Street analysts’ expectations, driven by strong sales in the company’s pharmaceutical division, after the company raised prices on dozens of prescription drugs earlier this year.

• Johnson & Johnson topped Wall Street analysts’ sales estimates, up 1.9 percent to $23.79 billion.
• Johnson & Johnson’s Q3 net earnings were $4.5 billion and U.S. sales increased 1 percent to $12.45 billion.
• The company’s earnings were driven by strong performance in the pharmaceutical division, which generated $13.21 billion in sales.
• Johnson & Johnson’s multiple myeloma drug Darzalex achieved 7 percent growth in Q3 and contributed over $2 billion in revenue.
• The company’s blockbuster immunology drug Stelara brought in another $2.45 billion.

Despite an escalating crisis of affordability, the Big Pharma giant has continued to engage in a business-as-usual approach to increasing prices on the brand name drugs in its portfolio.

• Johnson & Johnson began 2022 by hiking prices on nearly 30 prescription drugs – at an average rate of five percent.
• In January of 2021, the company hiked prices on more than 25 prescription drugs.
• In 2020, Johnson & Johnson hiked prices on more than two dozen drugs at an average rate more than double the rate of inflation.
• Spending on the company’s blockbuster cancer drug Imbruvica is expected to exceed $41 billion between 2027-2036 thanks to an anti-competitive patent scheme that extended a monopoly on the high-priced cancer drug by more than nine years. Imbruvica costs an eye-popping $180,000 per year.

Stay tuned as we continue to monitor earnings calls from Big Pharma for Q3 of 2022 over the next few weeks.

Learn more about solutions to lower prescription drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.