A：The key topics covered include business results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024, the company's financial outlook for 2025, and a review of fourth quarter sales and P&L results, as well as full year 2024 results for the Enterprise. Additionally, the call discusses the company's cash position, capital allocation priorities, and guidance for 2025.

A：Johnson & Johnson invested approximately $50 billion in research and development (R&D) in the last year, inclusive of the recently announced acquisition agreement with Intracellular Therapies.

A：Key achievements in Johnson & Johnson's innovative medicine segment include a third consecutive quarter of sales exceeding $14 billion with 10 key brands growing double-digit across the full year, strong growth in oncology, neuroscience, and pulmonary hypertension, and a number of FDA approvals, positive readouts, and new product launches.

A：Notable acquisitions and investments in 2024 include the acquisitions of shockwave and B-Wave in medtech, Ambrax ProteoLogics in innovative medicine, and the M&A investment in M26 biospecific antibodies. The company also announced plans to acquire Intracellular Therapies, a biopharmaceutical company focused on central nervous system disorders.

A：For 2025, Johnson & Johnson expects to deliver operational sales growth of 3%, and a nearly 9% growth in adjusted operational earnings per share, despite headwinds associated with US biosimilar entries, the impact of the party redesign, and continued macroeconomic pressures in China.

A：Starting with Q4 2024, currency translation had a negative impact on Johnson & Johnson's sales results, with a 6.7% increase in sales but a 2.5% decrease outside of the US. Worldwide growth was impacted by changes in currency exchange rates, with growth in Europe being negatively affected due to the loss of exclusivity of Solara and the COVID-19 vaccine.

A：Innovative medicine's worldwide sales, excluding the Covid-19 vaccine, increased by 6.5%.

A：Darz Alex showed growth of 23.5% with share gains across all lines of therapy, Carvic V achieved sales of $334 million with over 100% growth, and Tecentriq sales were $146 million with growth of 18%.

A：Stelara declined by 13.6% due to the impact of current and anticipated biosimilar competition.

A：Medtech worldwide sales increased by 7.6% in both the US and outside of the US, with acquisitions and divestitures having a net positive impact of 300 basis points on worldwide growth.

A：The adjusted income before tax for the enterprise as a percentage of sales decreased from 29.2% to 24.1%.

A：Strategic priorities include investment in innovation, forging strategic partnerships, and focusing on improving margins. Recent achievements include advancements in the pipeline, key milestones in core therapeutic areas, and resolving the talc litigation through a pre-packaged bankruptcy plan.

A：The company ended 2024 with approximately $25 billion of cash and marketable securities and approximately $37 billion of debt, resulting in a net debt position of approximately $12 billion.

A：The anticipated range for operational sales growth in 2025 is between 2.5% and 3.5%, with a midpoint of $91.3 billion or 3.0%.

A：Innovative medicine sales growth is expected to be driven by proven assets such as Darj le Alita, spraoi, recently launched products like carvic T, Teg Valley, and talvez new launches in IBD and lung cancer. Medtech sales growth will be propelled by recent acquisitions such as shockwave and aomedia, and the uptake of recently launched products such as Vara, pulse tecs odyssey, acuvue oasis Max, and the valas portfolio of enabling technology.

A：Negative impacts on sales include expanded biosimilar competition, a $200 billion negative impact from Part D redesign, and approximately $200 billion from a weaker euro compared to the US dollar. The company is addressing these factors by utilizing the recent euro spot rate to estimate an unfavorable foreign currency impact on sales and by continuing to expect adjusted pretax operating margins to increase by approximately 300 basis points.

A：The company expects script sales at the midpoint to be in the range of $10.75 to $10.95. The reported adjusted earnings per share for the year estimates a full year negative impact of 20 cents due to currency movements, resulting in an expected adjusted earnings per share of $10.60 at the midpoint. This is considered considerably stronger than consensus, as only about half the analysts incorporated the impact of foreign currency into their models.

A：The planned acquisition of intracellular therapies, mainly financed with debt, is not expected to generate material near-term cost synergies. Instead, the focus is on accelerating market penetration, exploring new geographies, and potentially expanding research and development into new indications. This acquisition is expected to have a dilutive impact on adjusted EPS of approximately 30 cents to 35 cents in 2025.

A：The company is preparing for the effects of biosimilar competition by anticipating an acceleration throughout the year, with a steeper erosion curve for humira due to increasing biosimilar entrants. Part D redesign is also expected to have a significant impact. In Medtech, the first half of the year faces tougher year-over-year comparisons, but the company anticipates an acceleration of sales for newly launched products as the year progresses.

A：In the multiple myeloma franchise, Darzalex sales reached $3.1 billion and continued to build market share across frontline settings and triple and quad regimens. Kavita had a robust performance, nearing $1 billion for the year. The company is working on multiple additional types of combinations for this franchise. Sales of both agents, Darzalex and Kavita, are reported to be strong, and there is a focus on expanding utilization into the academic and community settings for continued growth.

A：The speaker highlighted several key achievements: 27 approvals, 49 submissions, 15 out of 17 positive phase threes, a 9 out of 10 success rate for new molecule approvals, 10 new molecules added to the pipeline from internal research, a strong performance in business development, and the FDA declaring minimal residual disease negativity (MRD) as a surrogate endpoint for accelerated approvals.

A：The company has completed the infusion of 5000 patients with car T therapy across clinical and commercial settings, marking the most successful cell therapy launch in the industry.

A：Johnson & Johnson's acquisition strategy has been to focus on both pre-revenue companies and more established businesses, with a particular emphasis on smaller opportunities like those mentioned. They aim to create value through smaller acquisitions rather than larger ones, exemplified by their acquisitions of Lumen and V-Wave. However, they also pursue significant acquisitions like the one for Intracel, which are considered outliers. They underline the success of these smaller acquisitions and their alignment with their innovative and metabolic portfolio.

A：The company has closed the acquisition of Intracel in May of the previous year, which delivered $400 million in growth and is a pioneer in IVL technology. They have also seen a significant investment in Ablative Sciences, with positive results in theShockwave ABP study demonstrating a survival benefit. Additionally, they received FDA approval for Impella in the pediatric community and plan to submit ECP to the FDA in the first half of the year.

A：Johnson & Johnson views the addition of intracellular's assets as a significant near-term and long-term growth catalyst. They anticipate significant contributions from Cap Lita, which is expected to be a $5 billion plus asset, and are excited about the potential of 1284 in Alzheimer's, psychosis, and general anxiety disorder. The company also sees a diverse portfolio of mechanisms that can be applied to different subpopulations of depression.

A：Chronic depression affects 260 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of disability, with more than 30% not finding relief from current medications. Johnson & Johnson's treatments aim to address this through a precision neuroscience strategy with molecules that have unique mechanisms to play in different subpopulations of depression, without the side effects common to many current medicines.

A：The speaker indicates that there are expectations for TMF A to potentially experience volume shifts favoring other brands, similar to what occurred with skyrizi. However, they do not provide specific predictions on price erosion relative to 2024 or discuss the impact on volume and price in detail, except to note that they are excited about the progress with Trem FAA in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and inflammatory bowel diseases, and see it as a candidate for patient switches due to its superiority.

A：The anticipated growth for Trefilova in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) is based on several factors. Firstly, it is the only dual acting Il 23 agent that targets both Il 23 as well as CD 64, which the company believes will set a new bar in efficacy. The market is seeing a need for more effective treatments, with many patients ready for a switch to better therapies. Additionally, Trefilova offers unrivaled flexibility with its sub Q induction and maintenance dosing, as well as the potential for initial sub Q induction in Crohn's disease, which is currently launching well.

A：The reason for the pause in all US Barrett's cases is a temporary pause announced due to an investigation into the root cause of Ryan neurovascular events. The company views patient safety as an absolute priority and is collaborating with the FDA on this matter. At this time, there is no impact expected to our pulse cases outside of the US, where the technology has been successful. The company is reinforcing its commitment to patient safety and will provide further updates when additional information becomes available.

A：The company acknowledges facing short-term headwinds, particularly in the US, but is confident in its ability to retain global market leadership over the long term. It has a strong market position in electrophysiology, with a $5 billion market leadership and 14% growth in 2024, driven by commercial execution and new product introductions. Despite competitive pressures, the company has a robust portfolio, including market leading positions in certain areas like cargo systems and is expanding its presence in the PFA market. The company is also looking to enter the left atrial appendage closure market through an acquisition. While facing challenges in the short term, the company remains confident in its long-term prospects.

A：The 150 basis point improvement in operating margins is attributed to a focus on corporate infrastructure and investments in innovative medicine and medtech, which the company has been doing for a few years. As a result of separating the consumer health business, the company was able to streamline investments and operationalize efficiencies. Although the company faces significant revenue headwinds, especially from lizalopex, it is maintaining operational growth on the top line and is confident that as sales growth reaccelerates, operational margins will improve. The company is not providing guidance by sector, but it is confident that continued growth will be driven by a strong portfolio of new products.

A：The company is confident in its long-term prospects, especially as it relates to its medtech strategy. It is seeing an acceleration in the back half of the year, influenced by several factors such as positive changes in revenue recognition, inventory builds outside of the US in electrophysiology, and reduced selling days compared to the prior year. The company's end markets are expected to grow between Ed and script on a weighted average basis between Ly and Ly, and the company expects to deliver an operational Cager in the upper end of the range over that period. It anticipates growth across its core business areas, including cardiovascular, orthopedics, and vision, while acknowledging short-term challenges.