3. Johnson & Johnson
R&D Spending: $2,028,000,000
Percentage of revenue: 7.8%
2020 overall ranking: 2
Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries launched a number of products in their 2019 fiscal year, ranging from intraocular lenses to orthopedic solutions.
In February 2019, J&J Vision debuted its Tecnis Eyhance IOL in Europe. The intraocular lens is intended to treat cataracts and is designed to provide high-quality vision at immediate and far distances.
Johnson & Johnson entered the robotic surgery market in February as well, acquiring Auris Health for $3.4 billion. The acquisition brought the Monarch platform and robotic solutions to the company’s offerings, with the robotic system being cleared for diagnostic and therapeutic bronchoscopic procedures. The system features a controller interface for navigating the integrated flexible robotic endoscope into the periphery of the lung and combines traditional endoscopic views with computer-assisted navigation based on 3D patient models. The acquisition was completed in April 2019.
J&J’s Ethicon received FDA clearance for its airless spray devices in June 2019. The devices deliver Grifols’s fibrin sealant to stop surgical bleeding. The clearance covered three Vistaseal open and laparoscopic dual applicators that combine two plasma proteins, fibrinogen and thrombin, and offered another tool for surgeons to stop mild to moderate bleeding during procedures.
DePuy Synthes’ Attune cementless posterior stabilizing rotating knee (Image from DePuy Synthes)
In September, J&J’s Depuy Synthes launched its Attune cementless knee in a rotating platform in the U.S. The knee is designed to provide stability while the knee is in motion. It features GlideRight articulation to more accurately replicate the normal relationship between the patella (knee cap) and femur.
R&D spending for the first three quarters of 2020 increased slightly as a percent of sales from that of the same period of 2019, the company noted in its Q3 2020 earnings report.
J&J’s Cerenovus business announced in September 2020 that it had launched a new stroke solutions platform that includes three devices for clot removal procedures. In October, the company announced that its Biosense Webster business has secured FDA approval for its Thermocool SmartTouch SF ablation catheter. But the big medical device news out of J&J this year has been the unveiling in November of its new robot-assisted surgery system.
