Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 2024 Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference summary

Strategic priorities and business performance

• Focused on building on recent positive growth, with a goal to deliver a 5–7% WAMGR from 2022–2027, targeting the upper range.

• Vision business underperformed in the first half but is expected to rebound; China remains a challenging market due to VBP and anti-corruption headwinds.

• Cardiovascular is a major growth area, with significant investments and acquisitions like Abiomed, Shockwave, Laminar, and V-Wave.

• Shifted to a decentralized operating model, moving 40,000 employees to business units for greater accountability and speed.

• M&A strategy prioritizes scientific, strategic, and financial fit over deal size, with most deals under $1B but willingness for larger acquisitions.

Innovation and portfolio development

• Invested over $3B in R&D last year, focusing on differentiated innovation in surgery (OTTAVA Robot), orthopedics (VELYS), and electrophysiology (VARIPULSE).

• Cardiovascular portfolio now has over 50% in high-growth categories, up from 20% in 2018.

• Continued organic and inorganic investment in high-growth, high-margin cardiovascular businesses.

• Launch of new products like TECNIS Odyssey in Vision Care and expansion of VELYS and spine robotics in orthopedics.

• OTTAVA surgical robot on track for IDE filing by year-end, aiming for competitive differentiation through integrated architecture.

Market outlook and operational updates

• MedTech guidance for 2024 is ~6% growth, with acceleration expected in the second half as vision rebounds and cardiovascular momentum continues.

• China headwinds from VBP and anti-corruption expected to persist into next year, but overall business momentum remains strong.

• Orthopedics and surgery businesses normalized post-COVID, with backlogs largely cleared and procedure volumes returning to pre-pandemic levels.

• Orthopedic SKU rationalization program to reduce SKUs by 20%, targeting $250M impact across 2024–2025.

• No major impact expected from Shockwave outpatient reimbursement discussions; integration of recent acquisitions focused on growth, not cost synergies.