Johnson & Johnson’s global pharma sales up 19% in Q1

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) today reported first-quarter sales and earnings results, topping analysts’ expectations on Wall Street.

The company’s pharmaceutical business delivered “robust growth,” chairman & CEO Alex Gorsky said in a statement; worldwide global sales grew 19.4% to $9.8 billion for the first quarter compared to same period in 2017.

Domestic sales were up 9.9% and international revenues grew 33.1% in the first quarter, J&J touted. The company said that its results were driven by the launch of new products, including a multiple myeloma therapy, Darzalex, a once-daily therapy for patients with certain B-cell malignancies, Imbruvica, and a treatment for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, Tremfya.

J&J also landed a series of regulatory wins in the first quarter of 2018, like a positive opinion issued by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for Juluca – the first single-pill, two-drug regimen for people with HIV.

Reflecting its effort to withdraw from the diabetes business, sales for J&J’s diabetes division fell -15% to $339 million in Q1.

Combining all of its divisions, the New Brunswick, N.J.-based healthcare giant posted profits of $4.37 billion, or $1.60 per share, on sales of $20.0 billion for the three months ended March 30, for a bottom-line slide of -1.2% on sales growth of 12.6% compared with Q1 2017.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $2.06, 5¢ ahead of Wall Street’s consensus, where analysts were looking for sales of $19.38 billion.

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