Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Joaquin Duato: Thank you for the question. And turning to what you mentioned, our 2025 targets. We continue to work towards accomplishing our previously stated goals of on one hand, delivering growth every single year in our Pharmaceutical group through 2025 despite of the loss of exclusivity of STELARA, at the same time, continue to advance our differentiated pipeline and achieving $60 billion in revenue by 2025. So, we continue to work towards these goals. As we have discussed multiple times, the growth by 2025 is going to be driven mainly through the strength of our currently marketed portfolio as well as new indications of this marketed portfolio. Some examples, continuous growth of DARZALEX in first line, TREMFYA, which is gaining share, both in psoriatic arthritis and in psoriasis, and we expect a readout of our IBD studies in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s in 2023 will provide a significant additional leg of growth for TREMFYA; ERLEADA, which is now in different indications in metastatic and non-metastatic prostate cancer will have some readouts of studies in high-risk localized prostate cancer in 2023, providing an additional leg of growth; our INVEGA SUSTENNA franchise in the U.S. as well as our pulmonary arterial hypertension franchise with UPTRAVI and OPSUMIT has been affected by COVID-19, but that we expect that will continue to deliver growth.

So, that is the mainstay of our growth prospects towards 2025. And I will go later about the disconnect. Then connected with that, we are also excited about our new product launches, specifically growth of SPRAVATO, growth in CARVYKTI that I just mentioned before and also TECVAYLI, which we got the approval very recently; and as I commented, the filing of Talquetamab, everything in multiple myeloma. At the same time, we continue to make significant progress in some of the key products in our pipeline. Some of them we commented that were opportunities of more than $5 billion. Example of them, milvexian, our oral anticoagulant, the combination of RYBREVANT plus lazertinib in non-small cell lung cancer, our TARIS platform in bladder cancer. And finally, nipocalimab in autoantibody-mediated diseases.

So, those are the key drivers of our growth moving into 2025. If I think about the main disconnect between our forecast and the Street forecast, it’s our multiple myeloma portfolio. As I commented earlier, we see our multiple myeloma portfolio helping treat into cure rather than cannibalizing each other. And as a matter of fact, some of the studies that we have now in place show that ambition of combining our therapies. I mentioned CARTITUDE-4, moving CARVYKTI into earlier lines of therapy; TECVAYLI and Talquetamab, our two bispecific antibodies are being studied in combination with one another, and TECVAYLI or Talquetamab are also being a study in combination with DARZALEX. So, I see that as the major source of disconnect with the Street. Then further to that, I continue to see disconnects in SPRAVATO, our treatment for treatment-resistant depression; significant disconnects also in ERLEADA because of the indications in high-risk patients with localized prostate cancer that will read in 2023.

We see a disconnect, as I commented in our pulmonary arterial hypertension franchise with UPTRAVI and OPSUMIT, which have been impacted by the pandemic, but we see strong growth moving forward. And then, finally, in the expectations for Xarelto loss of exclusivity, which we see that in the back half of this decade. So, those are elements that I have reflected as disconnect. So, as I said, we continue to drive towards our 2025 goal of $60 billion and posting growth every year. I think it’s a reflection of the strength of our current portfolio and how well we are executing in our pipeline.