Cancer drugs help boost J&J to $20.8B in Q2 revenue

CNBC reported that Johnson & Johnson's estimate of sales and earnings in the second quarter of 2018 exceeded expectations, as pharmaceutical sales increased 20% year-over-year.

Medical group sales increased by 10.6% from the previous year and reached $ 20.8 billion in the second quarter. Analysts estimate that Johnson & Johnson's sales in the second quarter will reach $ 20.39 billion

Second quarter net income was $ 4 billion, $ 1.45 per share. However, with the exception of depreciation and other special items, the company was $ 5.7 billion, or $ 2.10 per share, exceeding analysts' estimate by 3 cents.

Johnson & Johnson's success in the quarter's results was primarily due to its pharmaceutical business, an anticancer agent. The pharmaceutical division alone achieved revenues of $ 10.4 billion, up 20% from the same period last year. Global cancer treatment sales were $ 2.45 billion, an increase of 42.2% over the previous year.

In addition, Johnson & Johnson's Medical Devices segment increased 7% to $ 7 billion compared to the same period last year.

The company's same-name consumer health business, especially its baby care product, is a weak point. Bank earnings declined 7% worldwide in the second quarter and 21% in the US.

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One way that companies can generate revenue is to develop brand drugs that are manufactured and sold at a lower price with competitor brand drugs. However, Pfizer's lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson is getting a lot of attention. Pfizer developed an inexpensive medicine to compete with Johnson & Johnson's Remicade for arthritis, but due to an exclusive contract with J & J it can not be used at health insurance companies, hospitals, clinics (Rockoff, 2017). This lawsuit is the first antitrust lawsuit in the biosimilar market, and other companies may prefer to sue each other under an exclusive contract with buyers (Rockoff, 2017).

Johnson & Johnson's success in the quarter's results was primarily due to its pharmaceutical business, an anticancer agent. The pharmaceutical division alone achieved revenues of $ 10.4 billion, up 20% from the same period last year. Global cancer treatment sales were $ 2.45 billion, an increase of 42.2% over the previous year.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved Erleada in February, in which the patient's life expectancy was extended by two years, indicating that the cancer did not metastasize to other organs rather than taking placebo. In the J & J press release, physicians welcomed Erleada's "impressive clinical benefits" for prostate cancer patients. Mr. Glawe said in Zytiga's approved drug research, "I know that the number of African Americans is very small." Post-marketing research is aimed at "ensuring that drugs also provide clinical benefits to these patients."