J&J targets $100B revenue, Replimune rebuffed again and a “Revolution” in pancreatic cancer

Johnson & Johnson kicked off Q1 earnings season with a “modest” beat, raking in $24.1 billion in sales as it targets $100 billion in revenue in 2026. J&J, as always, is the first to report results from a first quarter that has seen a wave of deals across biopharma; this M&A rush is expected to headline investor calls as more companies, including Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, report their Q1 results in the coming days. Meanwhile, IPOs are also on an upswing, with Kailera Therapeutics eyeing a raise that could reach as high as $533 million.

On the regulatory front, Replimune failed for a second time to secure approval for its advanced melanoma therapy RP1, as the FDA held its ground, requesting a Phase 3 trial that CEO Sushil Patel indicated in a statement last week “will not be viable.” This comes as analysts say the FDA’s new policy of making complete response letters public is increasing accountability.

Along with transparency, another key theme for the FDA this year has been its promise to be flexible, particularly when it comes to therapies for rare diseases. While BioSpace has closely covered the myriad cases where the agency has appeared to reverse its guidance to sponsors, two companies—Rezolute & CERo Therapeutics—lauded recent interactions with the FDA, calling reviewers “collaborative” and “curious.”

Finally, heading into the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting this weekend, several companies—including Revolution Medicines, Allogene and IDEAYA Biosciences and Servier—got a jump start, reporting positive data in a number of indications. Revolution’s report was especially seminal. The company’s therapy, daraxonrasib, doubled survival in pancreatic cancer—a disease that has just a 13% survival rate five years after diagnosis.