US giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J, NYSE: JNJ) released its Q3 2022 financial report, showing global sales growth of 1.9% year-on-year (YOY) in reported terms to USD 23.8 billion. However, operational sales, excluding acquisitions, divestitures, and currency impacts, grew by 8.2%. This performance prompted the company to maintain its 2022 full-year guidance midpoints.
Segment Performance
Pharmaceutical unit Janssen’s sales reached USD 13.2 billion, up 9.2% YOY (adjusted operational) globally, driven by strong performances in cancer, autoimmune diseases, and COVID-19 treatments. The consumer health segment expanded 4.8% to USD 3.8 billion, thanks to robust sales of upper respiratory and analgesic products. Medical device sales rose 8.1% YOY to USD 6.8 billion, with significant contributions from electrophysiology, contact lenses, and trauma products.
Top Performing Pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceutical sales during the third quarter were led by autoimmune disease drug Stelara (ustekinumab) at USD 2.4 billion, multiple myeloma (MM) medicine Darzalex (daratumumab) at USD 2.1 billion, schizophrenia treatment Invega (paliperidone) at USD 1.0 billion, and B-cell malignancies therapy Imbruvica (ibrutinib) at USD 911 million.
Carvykti: A USD 5 Billion+ Brand
During the earnings conference call, executives were questioned on the potential of Legend Biotech’s BCMA-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), which is under co-development with Janssen. Q3 marked the therapy’s second quarter on the market since its first approval in February 2022 for treating relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (MM) in patients previously treated with four or more lines of therapy. Although J&J declined to release specific sales data for the drug, Jennifer Taubert, J&J’s worldwide chairman for pharmaceuticals, expressed strong confidence in the product’s prospects.
Future Outlook for Carvykti
Carvykti’s initial launch in Q2 was impacted by a global shortage of lentivirus, which slowed manufacturing capabilities. However, Taubert noted that measures have been taken to ensure this will “not be a rate-limiting factor in the future” and to scale up production beyond the initial clinical trial sites. Legend/Janssen are looking forward to the Phase III CARTITUDE-4 study results “before the end of the year,” which, if successful, would allow the therapy to be used in patients previously treated with 1-3 lines of therapy. The CAR-T also has the potential to be used as a first-line therapy for MM if the CARTITUDE-5 Phase III study is successful. Given the potential for expanded use based on these studies, Taubert reconfirmed Carvykti as “a big asset with a lot of growth potential and one of our potentially USD 5 billion-plus brands.”-Fineline Info & Tech
