On September 25, according to foreign media Endpoints, Johnson & Johnson is closing the cardiovascular and metabolic drug unit of its pharmaceutical division.
This is the second large-scale reorganization since Johnson & Johnson closed its infectious disease and vaccine units. Johnson & Johnson has gradually downplayed cardiopulmonary and metabolic work since last year. Under the change, Johnson & Johnson has narrowed its research and development focus to three therapeutic areas: oncology, immunology and neuroscience.
This reorganization mainly affects the commercialization work of the cardiovascular department (sales, marketing and medical affairs teams), not research and development. At present, the cardiovascular department of Johnson & Johnson's medical device department has not been affected, and its acquisitions are still ongoing.
The core product of Johnson & Johnson's cardiovascular and metabolic drug department is Xarelto (rivaroxaban), which was once one of the world's best-selling anticoagulants and was jointly developed by Johnson & Johnson and Bayer.

In August this year, according to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Xarelto was included in the first list of 10 drugs that need to be subject to medical insurance price negotiations. The U.S. government negotiated a 62% price reduction for the drug, but this does not include rebates or discounted costs.

According to the financial report for the first half of 2024, the global sales of Johnson & Johnson's Xarelto were US$1.105 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 9.1%; the global sales of Bayer's Xarelto were US$1.830 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 4.8%.
Taking the field of metabolic diseases as an example, as a hot spot for competition among major global pharmaceutical companies, it seems that all of them are deploying "GLP-1". Johnson & Johnson's withdrawal may indicate its determination to change.

This year, Johnson & Johnson has not stopped the pace of adjustment. In February, Johnson & Johnson announced the closure of a nearly 200,000 square foot research and development base (San Francisco Bay Park) in Brisbane, California, which has been in operation for less than 18 months since its official opening in September 2022. Johnson & Johnson is working hard to adjust its business structure and strategic direction. However, while changing, how to balance the relationship between business adjustments and employee interests may be a problem that Johnson & Johnson needs to seriously consider.

In the face of changes in the global and Chinese markets, the business or structural adjustments of large pharmaceutical companies have not been paused. Bayer, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Pfizer, etc. are all seeking change.
Take AstraZeneca as an example. This year, AstraZeneca's China structure has been adjusted at least three times. On October 1, AstraZeneca's China Biopharmaceutical Business and Omnichannel Business Unit will be officially merged to form the new AstraZeneca China Biopharmaceutical Business (BBU). That is, the Respiratory Inhalation Business Unit, Respiratory Atomization Business Unit and Digestive Business Unit will be merged to form the Respiratory Digestive Business Unit; the Biologics Business Unit, Vaccines and Immunotherapy, and Autoimmune Business Unit will be merged; the Biologics Business Unit, Vaccines and Immunotherapy, and Autoimmune Business Unit will be merged to form the Respiratory and Autoimmune Biopharmaceuticals, Vaccines and Immunotherapy Business Unit. In the constant adjustment, AstraZeneca believes that the new map will add momentum to the long-term development of its business.

Pfizer adjusted its business lines in China on July 26 this year, and the hematology, tumor and rare disease teams were merged into Pfizer China Hospital Acute Care Business Unit (HBU). The changes of multinational pharmaceutical companies in China are inseparable from their global strategies. In 2019, Pfizer announced that it would merge its patent-expired brands and generic drug business units, Upjohn, with Mylan. Since then, Pfizer has divested several of its generic drugs and focused on innovative drugs. Back to China, in March 2021, Pfizer announced that it would stop producing biosimilars in China and sell its biopharmaceutical base in Hangzhou to Wuxi WuXi Biologics.

Johnson & Johnson, which adjusted its business this time, has faced considerable challenges in the past few years. The centralized procurement almost affected multiple business departments such as Johnson & Johnson's orthopedics, surgery, ophthalmology, and cardiovascular. Under the changes in the global market, Johnson & Johnson China is also constantly adjusting.
Since March this year, Johnson & Johnson's senior management in China has changed frequently. In March, Johnson & Johnson announced the new candidate for the general manager of the surgical division in China; in April, Song Weiqun, chairman of Johnson & Johnson China and president of Johnson & Johnson Medical Technology China, resigned.
The 2024 semi-annual report shows that Johnson & Johnson's revenue is about US$43.83 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%, of which innovative drug revenue is US$28.052 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%; medical technology revenue is US$15.778 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%. Innovative drugs account for the majority of Johnson & Johnson's performance. However, judging from its mergers and acquisitions, its layout in the medical device business is gradually increasing.

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