Johnson & Johnson has reported Q4 and full year financial results for 2015 slightly below expectations.
For the fourth quarter of 2015 pharmaceutical sales were at $8.06 billion, up slightly from $7.9 billion in Q4 2014, but medical devices sales fell 3.3 percent to $6.4 billion and total company revenues fell 2.4 percent to $17.8 billion.
Pharmaceutical sales for the full year were $25.1 billion, down 2.7 percent from 2014’s $32.3 billion. Similarly, full year revenues for medical devices fell 8.7 percent to $25.1 billion and the company’s total sales for 2015 were down 5.7 percent to $70 billion.
New pharmaceutical product sales growth was negatively impacted by lower sales of hepatitis C treatment Olysio (simeprevir) due to market competition, but there was strong growth in other new products including: Invokana (canagliflozin) for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes; blood cancer drug Imbruvica (ibrutinib); anticoagulant Xarelto; and Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), for the treatment of metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Last week the company announced a revamp of its medical devices division that could see a job cull of around 3,000 positions, in a bid to generate cost-savings of up to $1 billion as that sector’s growth continues to slow.
“As we enter 2016, our core business is very healthy,” said Alex Gorsky, chairman and chief executive officer, “and the recent decisive actions we’ve taken in support of each of our businesses position us well to drive sustainable long-term growth, faster than the markets we compete in.”
