Johnson & Johnson Wins FDA Clearance for MONARCH QUEST 3 Update

Johnson & Johnson said it remains on track to grow through biosimilar competition for STELARA and expects its medicines, medical devices and pipeline to support accelerating growth through the end of the decade. Speaking at a Morgan Stanley event, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Joaquin Duato said the company's current guidance calls for 6.5% adjusted operational sales growth and 7.3% adjusted earnings-per-share growth in 2026, with total revenue expected to exceed $100 billion for the first time. Duato said 2027 should be a better year than 2026 and that the company has line of sight to double-digit growth by the end of the decade, with more detail to come at an enterprise business review in early December. John Reed, executive vice president of Innovative Medicine and R&D, said Johnson & Johnson has 12 molecules that have achieved proof of concept and are in Phase III development, and that beyond DARZALEX it has 10 marketed medicines still early in their product life cycles. Capital allocation priorities center on launches such as ICOTYDE, INLEXZO, RYBREVANT, IMAAVY and the OTTAVA robotic surgical system, plus pipeline funding and earlier-stage business development, including the recent acquisitions of Halda Therapeutics and Firefly Bio and a collaboration with an option to acquire Sail. Duato said the company can reach double-digit growth this decade without acquisitions but views M&A as a way to reinforce growth into the following decade.