to delay a biosimilar version of its blockbuster psoriasis treatment Stelara until January 2025 could make the drug a larger contributor to J&J’s 2024 and 2025 sales than Wall Street is forecasting.
Availability of biosimilars should trigger a reduction in the price of older biotech medicines, if not by as much as generics do for traditional pills. But legal agreements under which rival drugmakers delay market entry to escape lengthy patent litigation have held back their launches, keeping prices high.
J&J is forecasting $57 billion in pharmaceutical sales by 2025 after reducing its previous view of $60 billion in April, citing currency dynamics that hurt its pharmaceutical business in 2022.Analysts told Reuters the Stelara deal with Amgen might put the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company on track to achieve that amended sales projection, despite early skepticism.
He said the drug, which also treats Crohn's disease and other autoimmune conditions, could generate sales closer to $10 billion in 2024, dropping to $7.5 billion to $8.5 billion the following year. That would add around $4.6 billion to average estimates for pharmaceutical sales, as long as no biosimilars enter the market before 2025.it signed with J&J will allow it to sell its Stelara biosimilar no later than Jan. 1, 2025.