Leading up to the entry of the first Stelara biosimilars in the U.S. at the start of 2025, executives at Johnson & Johnson remained steadfast in their belief that the company could maintain revenue growth despite the blockbuster drug’s toppling over the patent cliff.
Now, after setting an innovative medicines sales record in the year’s second quarter against the backdrop of that biosimilar erosion, it appears J&J’s confidence was well placed.
For the first time, J&J’s global innovative medicines sales have reached more than $15 billion in a single quarter, the company noted (PDF) in a July 16 earnings presentation.
That performance, buoyed by a slate of promising launches in oncology, immunology and neurology, contributed to a total companywide sales haul of $23.7 billion for the second quarter, nearly a 6% increase from the sum J&J recorded for the same period in 2024.
J&J logged those gains despite sales of Stelara—which peaked at around $11 billion in 2023—plunging more than $1.2 billion year over year. For the second quarter, the inflammatory med posted worldwide sales of around $1.7 billion, down roughly 43% compared to its performance in 2024’s second quarter.
“We had 13 brands that were growing double digits [in Q2], and as we take a look at those, the vast majority of those are not only our growth drivers for today and tomorrow but are also key growth drivers out through the end of the decade,” Jennifer Taubert, J&J’s executive vice president of innovative medicine, said on a conference call Wednesday.
Taubert spotlighted the performance of cancer drugs like Darzalex, which grew sales 23% to $3.5 billion; Carvykti, which recorded sales of $439 million; and Erleada, which rose 23% to $908 million. She also noted that the company is “really pleased with the launch and uptake thus far” of Rybrevant plus Lazcluze, which won the FDA’s blessing last August to treat certain patients with newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer.
Together, that performance bodes well for J&J’s overall ambitions in cancer, with CEO Joaquin Duato reiterating on the company’s earnings call that “[w]e expect to become the number one oncology company by 2030 with sales of more than $50 billion.”
Beyond cancer, Taubert touted Tremfya’s “great start” in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, where the burgeoning immunology drug picked up FDA nods in September and March, respectively. Altogether, Tremfya—which is scooping up indications previously dominated by Stelara—grew sales 31% to $1.2 billion in the second quarter.
Given the strong showing in the quarter, J&J now expects to reel in between $92.7 billion and $93.1 billion in total sales for the year, a $2 billion increase over the guidance it provided in April.
Elsewhere, executives at the company praised the passing of President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill," with Chief Financial Officer Joe Wolk noting that the law “provides certainty for a previously announced $55 billion commitment to invest here in the United States.”
From J&J's perspective, Wolk spotlighted several favorable provisions in the bill, including “permanent expensing for domestic R&D spend, permanent bonus depreciation and 100% expensing of qualified production property, including our newly planned facility in North Carolina.”