J&J strong pharma sales can’t offset Q1 losses
pharmafile | April 15, 2015 | News story | Sales and Marketing | J&J, JJ, Q1, Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia, Zytiga, abiraterone acetate, financials, ibrutinib, imbruvica
Johnson & Johnson’s pharma division achieved worldwide sales of $7.7 billion in the first quarter of this year – but this was not enough to overcome the damaging effect of a strong dollar on the firm’s financial forecast.
Its Q1 figures show an increase of 3% on the prior year. But the strong dollar, along with a 11% decline in international sales, means that there was still a large negative impact from currency.
J&J says its robust operational sales results are driven by new products – in particular Imbruvica (ibrutinib), a treatment for certain blood cancers that was recently approved in the US for a rare cancer called Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia; Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) for metastatic prostate cancer, and Olysio (simeprevir) the company’s new hepatitis C treatment.
Olysio has had lower than expected sales in the US, where the company has been outmuscled by ‘competitive entrants’ – namely Gilead’s Sovaldi (sofosbuvir).
The company also highlighted biologic drugs including Stelara (ustekinumab), Simponi (golimumab) and domestic sales of Remicade (infliximab) as strong financial performers. But Remicade, a former blockbuster for J&J, is already under threat from cheaper copycat versions available in India, and Napp and Hospira have also launched versions in Europe.
In the US, Korean biosimilar specialist firm Celltrion is poised to gain FDA approval for a biosimilar version of Remicade when J&J’s patent expires in September 2018.
Overall sales in the first quarter of the year were $17.4 billion, a decrease of 4.1% compared to the first quarter of 2014 – prompting the company to lower its full year profit forecast by 7 per cent. In that year its worldwide pharma sales rose 15% to $32.3 billion.
“The company delivered strong underlying growth in the first quarter driven by new products and the strength of the core business. Of note is the continued robust growth of the pharmaceutical business and the solid performance of our consumer brands,” says Alex Gorsky, chairman and chief executive officer. “I am proud of our global teams who focus every day on delivering innovative solutions to address evolving healthcare needs.”
Lilian Anekwe
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