• by Les Luchter , January 23, 2024

Carvykti, a two-year-old cancer treatment that genetically modifies and re-infuses a patient’s own white blood cells to fight multiple myeloma, helped propel Johnson & Johnson’s oncology sales to $4.6 billion in the fourth quarter 2023, up 17.6% year-over-year. Carvykti has the potential to be a $5 billion brand by itself, CEO Joaquin Duato told analysts Tuesday morning as J&J released its earnings report.

Overall, J&J reported $21.4 billion in global sales for the quarter, up 7.3% YoY. In the U.S., sales rose 11.0% YoY, to $12 billion.

Full year 2023 sales were $85.2 billion, up 6.5% from 2022. For full year 2024, the company forecasts growth of 5% to 6%, with sales of $88.2 billion to $89.9 billion.

J&J is investing heavily to keep its momentum going for the rest of the decade, with CFO/EVP Joseph Wolk saying that, in 2023, “we invested more than $15 billion in research and development, or 17.7% of sales, an all-time high for the company.”

In J&J’s Innovative Medicine division (its pharma business), Duato said that 10 brands – including Carvykti -- have the potential to generate over $5 billion in sales by 2030, adding, “we further project another 15 assets to have the potential for $1-$5 billion.”

In J&J’s MedTech division, Duato said, “we expect one-third of our revenue to be generated by new products.”

Carvykti, which has already treated more than 2,000 patients, is expected to move into “earlier lines of therapy,” Duato stated, as J&J “continues to transform the treatment paradigm in multiple myeloma, moving from treating to progression to treating to cure.” 

Tuesday’s upbeat comments came just days after the FDA required Carvyki – and four other brands using “T-cell” therapies against cancer – to include a warning that “T Cell malignancies have occurred following treatment.” Of those four other brands, only Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Abecma is also directed toward multiple myeloma (the others fight lymphoma and lymphoblastic leukemia).

Also on Tuesday, Fierce Pharma reported that the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee is looking into both Carvykti and Abecma’s bid to treat earlier lines of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

“We are very confident on the data of our phase 3 CARTITUDE-4 study that supports the efficacy and safety of Carvykti,” Duato said in response to an inquiry from Morgan Stanley’s Terence Flynn.