This morning, Johnson & Johnson announced it raked in $21.4 billion this quarter – a 2.3 percent increase over last year. They make billions while charging Americans prices up to four times higher than in other countries, forcing patients to cut pills and skip doses to make ends meet. Johnson & Johnson is suing the Biden Administration to block Medicare from negotiating lower prices, protecting their profits by raising costs for seniors.
- During the call, CEO Joaquin Duato bragged about the company’s “solid first quarter performance,” and lauded his company as an “innovation powerhouse.”
- Johnson & Johnson rewarded its shareholders by paying out $2.9 billion in dividends this quarter.
- Johnson & Johnson manufactures three drugs that were selected among the first ten drugs to have lower prices: Xarelto, Stelara, and Imbruvica. These three drugs alone brought in a combined $3.75 billion in sales this quarter, and the company has raked in around $117.5 billion collectively in sales from these drugs since their launch.
- Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, is suing the Biden administration to stop Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices for patients because it would endanger their massive profits. During the call, Johnson & Johnson said the program was “damaging to the health care innovation system,” despite maintaining that “we feel real confident about the state of our business” in light of having three of their drugs subject to lower negotiated prices.
- Over 80 percent of voters support giving Medicare the power to negotiate, making it the most popular provision in the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Johnson & Johnson announced the acquisition of medical device company Shockwave Medical for $13.1 billion and completed its acquisition of cancer biotech company Ambrx for $2 billion this quarter.
The Inflation Reduction Act brings down prescription drug costs for everyday Americans, especially seniors, by capping the price of insulin at $35 per month and providing free vaccines including shingles, giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices, and limiting the amount people have to pay each year for prescription drugs to $2,000 annually starting in 2025.
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