Washington, D.C. – Today, Johnson and Johnson reported their sales for the first half of 2026 — a record high $49.4 billion — keeping the company well on track to be the first drug company to make more than $100 billion in annual sales, all in the middle of a nationwide health care affordability crisis. The company reported that its sales growth was driven by strong growth in sales of Darzalex, its best-selling cancer drug, which was exempted from Medicare drug price negotiation by Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress last July. Thanks to Trump, big corporations are crushing industry financial records while 6 in 10 Americans struggle to afford prescription drugs and have no relief in sight.
In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach released the following statement:
“At a time people are rationing their drugs and cutting back on groceries to afford health care, Johnson and Johnson is minting money like we’ve never seen before thanks to Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress who purposely carved out one of Johnson and Johnson’s top-selling drugs from negotiation. This ensures their exorbitant profits remain untouched while seniors struggle just to get by in Trump’s unaffordable America. Trump and Republicans must answer to the seniors battling cancer in this country who won’t be able to afford lifesaving treatments because Big Pharma executives walked into the Oval Office with fat checks. This latest earnings report says it all. Donald Trump isn’t Americans first, he’s corporations first. This is why we need to end the scams and instead pass meaningful legislation to lower drug prices for all Americans.”
Background
- Nearly half of adults cannot afford to take their prescription medication as prescribed.
- 1 in 3 Americans are skipping meals and other needs to afford health care.
- Johnson and Johnson paid $0 in federal taxes from 2018 to 2025 thanks to Trump’s tax cuts.
- Trump handed big drug companies a $9 billion giveaway at the expense of seniors and taxpayers by carving out Big Pharma’s best-selling drugs, including J&J’s blockbuster cancer drug Darzalex, from Medicare drug price negotiation.