Johnson & Johnson tops IDEA Pharma’s Productive Innovation Index for the third consecutive year

The index can be summarised by the question: if you gave the same molecule to two different companies in early phase, which would make the best of it?

Based on an objective, rolling analysis of each company’s performance, between 2009 and 2014, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has continued to demonstrate its leadership in pharmaceutical product commercialisation, seeing them remain cemented in first place for the third year running, despite a significant shift in companies moving into the top 10.

With eight of its drugs hitting double digit growth across five disease franchises, J&J’s worldwide pharmaceutical sales increased by 14.9%, with the star performer being its hepatitis C combination drug Olysio/Sovriad, reaching over $2bn in sales in 12 months. This growth was bolstered further with successful launches for Invokana, Imbruvica and Zytiga, which helped to strengthen its position in the ranking alongside new approvals for Invega Sustenna and Rezolsta.

Notably, the biggest climber – moving up from 18th to take 2nd place – is Gilead Sciences for its standout performance in launching blockbuster drug Sovaldi, pulling in $10bn in revenue in just one year, one of the industry’s most successful launches ever. Cited as one to watch in last year’s Index, Gilead’s undeniable rise was also reinforced by the launch of the first hepatitis C combination pill, Harvoni; the continued return on investment for Stribild; achieving FDA approval and breakthrough designation for Zybelig, and obtaining CDC backing for Truvada. This saw the company knock Novartis down to rank 3rd.

Despite its move, Novartis has remained in the top three in recognition for the continued growth from its core assets Afinitor, Tasigna, Zortress and Gilenya, and contributions from its industry-leading late-stage pipeline. Supporting this were a number of key approvals in 2014 including Zykadia for metastatic lung cancer, Xolair for hives and Cosentyx for psoriasis to name a few. Bexsero also had a good year with a breakthrough designation, winning Prix Galien and FDA approval. What pegged Novartis back was the refusal for serelaxin in heart failure, and pulling the Tasigna EMA application for Philadelphia chromosome positive-CML.

Other companies that made significant moves into the top 10 were Biogen, Amgen and Celgene – the latter was the second biggest climber into the upper echelons, moving from 16th to take 8th place, for successfully expanding its reach from oncology and having an immediate impact in the immunology arena.

Commenting on the index, IDEA Pharma’s CEO, Mike Rea said: “PII is the only measure of innovation in the pharma industry that matters – those at the top have made a better job of being a pharma company than those towards the bottom over the past five years. Seeing J&J leading the index once again further secures its stance as a true innovator in the market… after all, innovation is based on what is launched, not what is discovered and is only valuable if it effectively reaches the market and the target patient groups.”

The PII looks beyond turnover figures and raw approval rates, or more subjective measures of ‘innovation’, and assesses companies based on a range of factors including speed to market, attrition rate across phases – in particular phase III, reimbursement rates, regulatory approvals and analyst rankings.

PRODUCTIVE INNOVATION INDEX 2015

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