Talquetamab

Johnson & Johnson said its newly launched oral IL-23 peptide Icotyde (icotrokinra) has already racked up roughly 1500 prescriptions in the first few weeks since its March approval for plaque psoriasis, a pace that has company executives abuzz about the drug's prospects."It's off to a very fast start," said Jennifer Taubert, EVP for Innovative Medicine, at J&J's first-quarter earnings call Tuesday. "We think it's got the potential to become one of our biggest products."The once-daily pill is indicated for moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients as young as 12 years old who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. In head-to-head superiority studies, Icotyde showed superior skin clearance when put up against Bristol Myers Squibb's oral TYK2 inhibitor Sotyktu (deucravacitinib), while having a safety profile akin to placebo.'One-two punch'"A number of us were out at the AAD (American Academy of Dermatology) meeting as well, and the KOL receptivity to the strength and the simplicity of the label has been really encouraging," Taubert said. "Things like no lab monitoring…no black box or drug interactions really is giving us good confidence that this is going to be really the preferred choice in first choice for systemic therapy." FirstWord is running a poll to gauge early physician expectations for the drug, click here to be notified of the results.Icotyde's role was also highlighted alongside Tremfya (guselkumab), J&J's established injectable biologic for psoriasis, which the company predicts will exceed $10 billion in peak annual sales. Tremfya, which treats psoriasis as well as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), generated $1.6 billion in first-quarter sales, up 68% year-over-year, and beat estimates of $1.2 billion."We think that with that one-two punch, we have got the portfolio for psoriatic disease and patients that are really excited about both agents going forward," Taubert said, adding "we're in the middle of very, very positive conversations with [payors] to try to drive…early and very broad access."Data for Icotyde in psoriatic arthritis is expected to read out later this year; the drug is currently being evaluated in the Phase III ICONIC-PsA 1 and ICONIC-PsA 2 studies. Enrollment is also underway in a pair of IBD trials; ICONIC-UC in ulcerative colitis and ICONIC-CD in Crohn's disease.Moving beyond StelaraMeanwhile, the performance of J&J's former blockbuster Stelara – used to treat psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune conditions – continues its downward slide in the face of biosimilar competition, with quarterly sales tumbling nearly 60% during the quarter to $656 million (see – Vital Signs: Fastest falling drugs of 2025).However, instead of switching to biosimilars, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk told CNBC, "We are seeing increased share in Tremfya and we anticipate we'll see something similar in the new oral offering."In other results, J&J reported that sales of its multiple myeloma treatment Darzalex were 22.5% higher in the quarter at $4 billion, compared to the year-ago period, whereas analysts were projecting $3.4 billion. Newer blood cancer therapies Carvykti ($597 million, +62.1%), Tecvayli ($202 million, +33.5%) and Talvey ($152 million, 76.7%) also helped drive growth."[J&J] has emerged as one of the cleaner names in the group as the company moves beyond the Stelara loss of exclusivity and with healthy growth in its core portfolio," said JP Morgan analysts. "We see J&J as capable of generating sustained top-tier growth."The company bumped up its full-year sales forecast to between $100.3 billion and $101.3 billion, nudging both ends of the previous range up by $300 million. Profit is expected to be higher as well, with earnings now estimated to be between $11.45 and $11.65 per share, a two-cent bump at each end of the range.