Q1 Sales Surge by 135%! Legendary Biotech's CAR-T Therapy Expected to Reach $2 Billion in 2025

On April 15, Johnson & Johnson released its Q1 2025 financial report, with operating revenue of $21.893 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.4%. R&D expenditure reached $3.23 billion, and the company had significant progress in its new product pipeline, including approval for Tremfya in Crohn's disease, overall survival data for Rybrevant/Laz Cluze in non-small cell lung cancer, data for Icotekinra in plaque psoriasis, and the initiation of clinical trials for the general surgery robot system Ottava.

In terms of products, innovative drug sales for Q1 2025 reached $13.873 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%; oncology drug sales were $5.678 billion, up 17.9%; and the sales of CD38 antibody Darzalex reached $3.237 billion, up 20.3%. Notably, sales of the BCMA CAR-T therapy Carvykti, developed in collaboration with Legend Biotech, amounted to $369 million in Q1 2025, a remarkable increase of 135%! The sales of Carvykti are expected to reach $2 billion in 2025.

Carvykti (generic name: ciltacabtagene autoleucel) is a CAR-T therapy targeting B-cell maturation antigen, used for adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have previously been treated with proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory agents, and anti-CD38 antibodies, and who have shown disease progression during or after their last treatment.

In the oncology product line, the sales growth rate for Q1 2025 was close to 18%, reaching $5.68 billion. Among these, the BCMA CAR-T cell therapy product, CARVYKTI, in collaboration with Legend Biotech, had sales of $369 million in Q1 2025, slightly exceeding the expected $324 million.

Additionally, Darzalex (daratumumab, CD38 monoclonal antibody) sales grew by 20% year-on-year. Darzalex, a treatment for multiple myeloma launched in 2015, achieved $3.237 billion in sales in Q1 2025, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion.

Multiple myeloma products are the main core of the oncology portfolio. The CD38 monoclonal antibody DARZALEX, the BCMA/CD3 bispecific antibody TECVAYLI, the BCMA CAR-T cell therapy CARVYKTI, and the GPRC5D/CD3 bispecific antibody Talvey together generated $3.757 billion in sales in Q1 2025, further strengthening its dominance in the multiple myeloma space.

Currently, there are three CD38-targeted drugs approved worldwide. In addition to Darzalex, the first globally approved drug, there is Sanofi’s isatuximab, which is also approved for multiple myeloma. The last one is daratumumab-hyaluronidase, which is still the original drug developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals.