JNJ Johnson and Johnson

By Matt Grossman and Peter Loftus 

Strong sales growth from pharmaceuticals lifted Johnson & Johnson's revenue in the latest quarter, even as the coronavirus pandemic weighed on other parts of the company's business.

As the health-products company nears the release of pivotal data from a final-stage study of its Covid-19 vaccine, Johnson & Johnson said the pandemic was continuing to drag down sales of its medical devices as people postponed elective procedures. But modest growth in consumer-health products also contributed to the sales boost in the latest quarter.

Alex Gorsky, the company's chairman and chief executive, said that Johnson & Johnson would soon share data from its final-stage study of the coronavirus vaccine it is developing. Emergency approval from the Food & Drug Administration could follow, and would bolster the U.S. supply of shots aimed at ending the pandemic amid a rocky vaccine rollout.

If study results, expected by early next week, are positive and the vaccine receives U.S. authorization, J&J expects to provide about 100 million doses for use in the U.S. by the end of June, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk said in an interview. The federal government also has options to purchase additional doses beyond that.

J&J tested its vaccine as a single dose. The vaccine can be stored at standard refrigerator temperatures, whereas the two vaccines authorized in the U.S. are given in two doses and must be kept at frozen temperatures, before being thawed for administration.

"We are planning to be part of the solution," Mr. Wolk said. "The fact that we do not require significant refrigeration beyond the norm, as well as being one shot, certainly does play into the label that some outside the company have called it, a game-changer."

Johnson & Johnson's fourth-quarter revenue was $22.48 billion, compared with $20.75 billion in the year-before quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting revenue of $21.66 billion.

Drugs such as Stelara, for inflammatory diseases, and Darzalex, for multiple myeloma, helped drive sales growth of 16% for the New Brunswick, N.J., company's pharmaceutical division, to $12.27 billion. Revenue from the consumer-health division, ticked up by 1.4% to $3.62 billion.

Sales from medical devices slipped 0.7% year over year to $6.59 billion as the pandemic cut demand for products used in surgery, orthopedics and vision care.

The company posted net earnings of $1.74 billion, or 65 cents a share, compared with $4.01 billion, or $1.50 a share, in the same three-month period a year earlier.

Johnson & Johnson said it expects sales growth in 2021 to boost its full-year revenue to between $90.5 billion and $91.7 billion. Analysts had been forecasting full-year sales of $88.59 billion.

The company's Covid-19 vaccine, if approved, would be especially helpful to the nation's supply because it is designed to work with just one dose. The two vaccines that have received emergency U.S. approval, one produced by Moderna Inc. and the other by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, require two doses to reach their full protective strength.

The rollout of vaccines across the country has been slowed by technical challenges and supply constraints as manufacturers and health officials race to make and distribute the shots.

Merck & Co. is discontinuing development of its Covid-19 vaccine after results from a clinical trial showed disappointing results, the company said Monday.

Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com and Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 26, 2021 09:03 ET (14:03 GMT)

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