Blockbuster earnings nosedive by 80%

When the third highest reimbursed drug on the PBS faced generic competition last August a drop in price was expected, but not the eye-watering nosedive that actually occurred. 

For the first half of 2025 Johnson & Johnson's Stelara earned $290,765,872 in pre-rebate R/PBS reimbursements, a 31 per cent year-on-year increase beaten only by MSD's oncology juggernaut Keytruda and Vertex's cystic fibrosis blockbuster Trikafta on the top-earners list. This was despite some headwinds.

"Stelara is an example of a product whose price eroded significantly over time prior to generic entry due to the impact of reference pricing policy triggered by products accepting lowest cost comparator pricing to enter the market," a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson told Pharma in Focus.