Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Page 7 of 7

Joaquin Duato: Yes. So let me start with the IRA. Obviously, we remain very concerned about the government price-setting environment that the IRA creates, which we believe creates a significant disincentive to innovation without addressing the core problem, which is patient access. So it is a significant concern for us. And that’s one of the reasons, as we commented earlier, that we have filed a lawsuit versus the IRA. So that’s important for us. Then when it comes to the actual business impact, I think it’s still early to be able to calculate it, given the fact that many of the rules and procedures are still in flux. So it would be too much to be able to try to anticipate that. In our case, when we look at Johnson & Johnson, relatively speaking towards the industry based on our diversification between MedTech and Pharma and also the diversification of our Pharma portfolio, we feel that we are well positioned competitively to continue to grow way beyond the second-half of this decade.

So we remain concerned. But at the same time, we think we are prepared to be able to manage successfully any situation coming from that relative to other industry players. The second question was about CARVYKTI. As I commented earlier, we are working to improve CARVYKTI supply, which is very important. You’ve seen that improvement in our sales in the second quarter. We are working in different ways. One is we are increasing capacity. We have internalized the production of lentivirus now. And also, we are in the process of increasing the number of slots internally. And also, we have reached agreements with other companies like Novartis to continue to increase capacity. So we are going to be in the trajectory of increasing capacity gradually in order to be able to eventually meet the demand that exists in CARVYKTI.

As far as reaching to other patient populations, the CARVYKTI 4, it’s already been filed. And it’s moving CARVYKTI into earlier lines of therapy, and we are also working in first line with CARVYKTI 5 and CARVYKTI — excuse me, with CARTITUDE-5 and CARTITUDE-6. So we are clearly intending to move CARVYKTI through CARTITUDE-4, CARTITUDE-5, and CARTITUDE-6 into earlier lines of therapy. And we are increasingly convinced of the potential of CARVYKTI to be one of our more than $5 billion assets that we announced back in 2021.

Jessica Moore: Thank you, Louise, and thanks to everyone for your questions and your continued interest in our company. We apologize to those we couldn’t get to because of time, but don’t hesitate to reach out to the Investor Relations team with any questions you may have. I will now turn the call back over to Joaquin for some brief closing remarks.

Joaquin Duato: Thank you, Jess, and thank you to all of you for joining this call today. I’m extremely proud of the performance that we have achieved in the first-half of 2023. We are entering the back half of the year from a position of strength with numerous catalysts, including the fact that we are going to be a two-sector company focused on Pharmaceutical and MedTech recent development and innovation. We look forward to having future engagements with you to update you on our continued progress. Thank you very much, and enjoy the rest of your day.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes today’s Johnson & Johnson second quarter 2023 earnings conference call. You may now disconnect.

Follow Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Page 7 of 7