With pharma sales beginning to slide and the loss of patent protection looming on its $2.5 billion a year epilepsy franchise from Topamax, Johnson & Johnson execs are spending much of today polishing up their late-stage development jewels for stock analysts.
J&J outlined upbeat plans to file for approval of three new drugs by the end of 2010 and up to eight more by the end of 2013. And the company told analysts that it expects to file for European approval of telaprevir and the leukemia drug Dacogen with a U.S. filing planned for the HIV drug TMC278.
J&J's psoriasis drug Stelara and the blood clot drug Xarelto--in development with Bayer--are both expected to win near-term FDA approval. Two weeks ago the FDA delayed its decision on Stelara for three months. And Johnson & Johnson is readying the launch of Tapentadol for moderate to severe pain. J&J has a total of seven drugs that are now awaiting final regulatory action. And with generics siphoning off a significant portion of its revenue stream, J&J execs are putting on an upbeat performance.
"We are very optimistic about our future," Sheri McCoy (photo), J&J's worldwide chairman of pharmaceuticals.
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ALSO: J&J's experimental drug TMC207 demonstrated efficacy for drug-resistant TB in a small mid-stage study involving a cocktail of approved tuberculosis drugs. Report