During Johnson & Johnson’s third quarter earnings call, an analyst from Wolfe
Research posed a question regarding long term guidance for the pharmaceutical
giant. In response, Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato boasted of strong confidence
in the company’s financial performance, “I want to underline this is not only a
very strong quarter, it’s also an indication, a signal that Johnson & Johnson
is in an accelerated cycle of growth, which we expect is going to last the
balance of the decade.”





 

October 17, 2025



TOPLINE



In case you missed it, Johnson & Johnson reported third quarter earnings that
beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations after already hiking prescription drug
prices more than30 times so far this year
<[link removed]>.



During Johnson & Johnson’s third quarter earnings call
<[link removed]>
, an analyst from Wolfe Research posed a question regarding long term guidance
for the pharmaceutical giant. In response, Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato
boasted of strong confidence in the company’s financial performance, “I want to
underline this is not only a very strong quarter, it’s also an indication, a
signal that Johnson & Johnson is in an accelerated cycle of growth, which we
expect is going to last the balance of the decade.” Johnson & Johnson is one of
the many pharmaceutical companies that routinely hikes the prices of their
blockbuster drugs, directly contributing to increased sales, revenue and the
company’s overall growth.



Read more on Johnson & Johnson’s earnings, fueled by price hikes and
anti-competitive tacticsHERE
<[link removed]>.



QUOTES OF THE WEEK



“For many years, Americans have paid the highest prices anywhere in the world
for prescription drugs by far, many times the amount that other countries are
paying.”



President Donald Trump
<[link removed]>



DATA POINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW



$487 Billion



The amount of spending on prescription drugs in 2024, according to a report
<[link removed].>
from Navitus.



TWEETS OF THE WEEK



@P4ADNOW <[link removed]>: Big Pharma abuse
of the patent system is downright haunting and bills like the PERA Act (S.1546)
and the PREVAIL Act (S.1553) are even scarier! PERA, a Big Pharma giveaway that
will drive up drug prices, would drastically expand what counts as patentable
resulting in more weak patents, longer monopolies, and higher costs for
patients. PREVAIL would gut key checks on the patent system, letting Big Pharma
protect weak patents, block competition, and keep prices high. Congress should
reject PERA and PREVAIL and instead advance patent reform that increases
competition and saves money for patients and taxpayers.”



@Runaway_Rx <[link removed]>: “Ever
wonder why brand-name drugs stay expensive for so long? #BigPharma games the
patent system by stacking up overlapping patents that can block generic
competition for years and even decades. We call it “The Thicket Trap,” and it’s
not the only way #BigPharma games the system – learn more Big Pharma plays to
keep drug prices high in our Big Pharma Patent Playbook:[link removed]
<[link removed]> #TheProblemIsThePrice”



ROAD TO RECOVERY



MM+M: The FDA Quietly Posted 12 More Untitled Letters. Here’s What Marketers
Need To Know
<[link removed]>



The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent out 12 more Untitled Letters
to pharma companies amid its ongoing crackdown on direct-to-consumer (DTC)
advertising. The agency quietly posted the new Untitled Letters — directed at
companies including AbbVie, Amgen, Takeda and Novartis — weeks after publishing
its first round of some 40 letters. The initial round made a splash in the
industry over its unprecedented targeting of TV ads, prompting marketers to
question their approach to DTC advertising moving forward.



Forbes: HHS Is Driving A Paradigm Change Through The Pharmaceutical Industry.
What It May Mean For Consumers
<[link removed]>



Last month the Trump Administration announced sweeping changes to the decades
old rules that allow pharmaceutical manufacturers to advertise products
direct-to-consumer. FDA Commissioner, Marty Makary, noted that since 1997 when
the rules changed allowing drug promotion as long as ads described side effects
along with clinical benefit, manufacturers have been spending billions to
promote their drugs. The amount of money spent on advertising in the following
decade increased 8-fold, from $700 million to $5.4 billion in 2006. That number
today is around $10 billion and according to some estimates represents
approximately 31% of what the U.S. pharma industry spends on bringing drugs to
market.



PHARMA’S POOR PROGNOSIS



The Conversation: Some New Drugs Aren’t Actually ‘New’ – Pharmaceutical
Companies Exploit Patents And Raise Prices For Patients, But Data Transparency
Can Help Protect Innovation
<[link removed]>



Pharmaceutical innovation saves lives. But not every “new” drug is truly new.
Patents are designed to reward breakthrough inventions by granting the
inventors temporary monopoly rights to recoup the costs of research and
development and to encourage future innovation. But firms may also exploit the
system in ways that make drugs more expensive and less accessible to patients.
A 2023 study found that 78% of drugs associated with new patents weren’t
actually new drugs but minor modifications. After obtaining a drug’s primary
patent, pharmaceutical companies often file additional ones to extend their
monopoly rights. This practice – called evergreening – may cover new dosages,
delivery methods, drug combinations and conditions.



The Washington Post: Opinion: ‘Dancing Patients’ Aren’t The Biggest Problem
With Drug Ads
<[link removed]>



After years of passivity, the Food and Drug Administration announced in
September that it is “no longer asleep at the wheel” — yes, that’s a real quote
from the announcement — on drug ads. In an extraordinary burst of regulatory
activity, the agency issued dozens of warning letters to companies about ads
“filled with dancing patients, glowing smiles and catchy jingles” implying that
“a drug will instantly transform you into singing and dancing endlessly.”
That’s a good start. But misleading images are just the tip of the
drug-promotion iceberg. The FDA needs to address the basic problem, too:
Direct-to-consumer ads, as pharmaceutical ads aimed at the general public are
known, almost always fail to communicate what consumers most need to know — how
well a drug actually works.



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