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 than 30 times so far this year.
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.” 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 tactics HERE.
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
DATA POINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
$487 Billion
The amount of spending on prescription drugs in 2024, according to a report from Navitus.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK
@P4ADNOW: 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: “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: https://bit.ly/4hXoxkD #TheProblemIsThePrice”
ROAD TO RECOVERY
MM+M: The FDA Quietly Posted 12 More Untitled Letters. Here’s What Marketers Need To Know
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
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
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
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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