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Joseph Wolk

Executive VP & CFO, Johnson & Johnson

Search every verified Joseph Wolk interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. On October 13, 2026, Johnson & Johnson CFO Joe Wolk discussed the company's third-quarter earnings and raised full-year guidance in interviews with Yahoo Finance and Fox Business. He attributed the improved outlook to strong pharmaceutical performance, citing 17% growth in oncology, which he said represented over $7 billion in quarterly revenue, and a return to growth in immunology despite a nearly $900 million headwind from the loss of exclusivity on Stelara. Wolk also highlighted the early success of the oral psoriasis treatment icoticide, noting 20,000 prescriptions in its first two quarters and a prescribing base of about 9,000, with adoption extending beyond dermatologists to primary care physicians and advanced practitioners. He said market research suggests only 30-40% of eligible patients receive biologic treatments due to needle fear or stigma, and he expressed optimism about the product's potential, stating Tremfya could become a more than $10 billion product. Wolk also addressed the company's planned separation of its orthopedics business, saying J&J was leaning toward a spinoff into a standalone company by mid-2027. He said the business had performed well under its leadership and that the company was not cash-strapped or desperate for a deal, allowing it to avoid accepting suboptimal offers given lower medtech valuations. He noted that J&J's focus areas of cardiovascular, vision, and surgery were intended to be higher-growth markets, while orthopedics was capital-intensive with lower margins. Regarding pricing pressures, Wolk said the company had experienced about 2% price erosion year to date, which he said was accounted for in long-term forecasts and made the results more impressive. He also commented on litigation related to talc claims, stating the company believed the claims were without merit and that a settlement was subject to 95% approval from claimants, with indications that threshold would be met.

Recent appearances

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“Yeah, so proud of the team that's working on evaluating these options. When we announced our intentions to separate this business last fall, we had a multitude of options. Those options gotten better because of the way the business has performed under Nalana and his team's leadership. As we moved forward and through the process, we do appreciate that medtech valuations are down. And so if you think about potential ac”

“Yeah, Julie, it's nice to see you and thank you for your interest in Johnson and Johnson. It's a great job by the team. They continue to do extremely well across the board, most notably in pharmaceuticals. If you look at our three areas of expertise, our therapeutic areas of focus, oncology grew 17%. This is a franchise that represents over $7 billion in the quarter, almost $8 billion. Neuroscience with two great dru”

“Yes so this come I noticed you have about 30 minutes ago the White House press secretary touted just how much prescription drugs have come down under President Trump administration I think we really need to have a focused discussion is relevant healthcare and that includes, the middleman is so pharmacy benefit managers and the insurance providers, you see insurance premiums going up in co-pay is going up anything abo”

“If you look at where we want to play is cardiovascular and vision and surgery. Supposed to be higher growth markets and now in orthopedics is a great business that they could performance will be somewhere between four and 6 percent with a little bit lower margins is capital-intensive, so as we already see in the past year, when we announced our intention to separate the business being focus is to make better on to so”

“Yeah, you know, in terms of pricing, this is something that we deal with. We put in our long-term forecasts. If you think about the results year to date, we've probably had about a 2% price erosion headwind. So that really speaks to the innovation that John Reed and his R&D team are coming up with to provide a new standards of care for patients for very serious illnesses. And so we're well positioned. It's something ”

“Yeah, so proud of the team that's working on evaluating these options. When we announced our intentions to separate this business last fall, we had a multitude of options. Those options gotten better because of the way the business has performed under Nalana and his team's leadership. As we moved forward and through the process, we do appreciate that medtech valuations are down. And so if you think about potential ac”

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