Health and Science

J&J: 10 new drugs by 2019, each with $1B potential

Driving innovation in pharma: JNJ CEO
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Driving innovation in pharma: JNJ CEO

Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday it expects 10 new drugs to be launched by 2019—each with the potential to exceed $1 billion in revenue—and plans more than 40 line extensions of existing and new medicines.

"You're going to have some wins and some that don't turn out quite the way you expect," Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky told CNBC's "Squawk Box" in an interview. "But overall we're very confident ... particularly based on what we've been able to do over the past several years." J&J said it has launched 14 new products since 2009—seven of which already exceed or are on track to achieve sales in excess of $1 billion during 2015.

The health-care giant expects these moves to provide momentum to sustain above-industry compound annual growth through 2019.

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At its biennial pharmaceutical analyst meeting at its New Jersey headquarters Wednesday, J&J also announced plans to file a licensing application with the Food and Drug Administration for daratumumab in double refractory multiple myeloma. (Tweet This)

"It's just one indication of the payoff the patients are getting—that we're getting—from the investments that we've made in the oncology area," Gorsky said.

The submission will be based on Phase 2 data, which will be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The ASCO gathering begins at the end of the month.