J&J posts negative growth as pharma sales stall
pharmafile | January 26, 2011 | News story | Sales and Marketing | 2010 pharma results, J&J, JJ, Johnson and Johnson, Remicade, Risperdal Consta
Falling fourth quarter sales of Risperdal Consta and Remicade capped a year to forget for Johnson and Johnson.
The company’s quarterly figures show sales declined by 5.5% to $15.6 billion, dragging down full year sales by 0.5% to $61.6 billion.
Product recalls of over-the-counter medicines dominated the headlines for the company in 2010 and cost it dearly in costs, lost revenues and damaged reputation.
But pharma sales, the biggest proportion of revenue for J&J, dipped independently of its OTC products.
Pricing restrictions in Europe and the continuing effects of both the recession and President Obama’s healthcare reforms in the US both hit its figures.
Losses were headed by rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade, its biggest seller, which saw sales shrink by 6.4% in the fourth quarter to $1.1 billion, with a more pronounced 10.4% dip coming from poor sales in the US.
The brand’s performance over the full year was rather more assured, with sales up 7.1% to $4.61 billion, boosted by strong international sales.
J&J’s antipsychotic Risperdal and antiepileptic Topamax continued to be hit by generic pressures, declining by 41.1% $527 million and 53.3% to $538 million respectively for the full year.
Risperdal Consta, the long acting form of Risdperdal, grew by 5.3% to $1.5 billion for the full year, but also saw poor sales in the US, where it dropped by 14.3% in 2010.
Overall J&J’s worldwide pharma sales of $22.4 billion in 2010 represented a decrease of 0.6% versus the prior year, mainly due to poor US sales.
J&J missed their own predictions for the year and forecast for 2011 a modest 1-3% increase.
William C. Weldon, chairman and chief executive, said: “Although 2010 was a challenging year, the business continued to deliver earnings growth, while investing in the future and emerging a stronger organisation.”
“While we will continue to see near-term pressures on the business for 2011, we remain committed to investing in innovative products, a robust pipeline and talented people who will sustain our growth and increase our market leadership in one of the most important and rewarding industries in the world.”
Ben Adams
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