NEW YORK, Jan 26 — Johnson & Johnson today forecast 2021 profit above Wall Street estimates and promised data from its widely watched coronavirus vaccine trial soon, as the healthcare conglomerate races to develop a potential single-dose vaccine for Covid-19.
The company had previously signalled that it expected to deliver data on the trial before the end of January, at a time when global hopes of defeating the virus are riding on securing adequate supplies of multiple vaccines.
Johnson & Johnson, which runs a large medical device business in addition to its pharmaceuticals unit, forecast 2021 adjusted profit of between US$9.40 (RM38) and US$9.60 per share, compared with analysts’ estimates of US$8.99 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The company’s fourth-quarter profit fell 56.7 per cent to US$1.74 billion. The company reported that it had recorded litigation expenses of US$2.9 billion in the fourth quarter.
J&J faces a litany of lawsuits over its marketing of opioids, its pelvic meshes and body powders.
The company’s fourth-quarter sales rose to US$22.48 billion from US$20.75 billion, helped by higher demand for cancer drugs. — Reuters
