Former J&J R&D EVP Mathai Mammen, Who Left Just 8 Months After Promotion, Files IPO for New Biotech Parabilis Medicines

Recently, according to the industry media Endpoints News, Mathai Mammen, Global Executive Vice President (Pharmaceutical, R&D) of Johnson & Johnson, has chosen to leave the company to pursue career opportunities outside. Currently, Mammen is no longer listed on the "Executive Committee" page of the Johnson & Johnson official website.

It is reported that William Hait will temporarily take charge of Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical R&D as the interim leader before a new leadership team is determined.

In 2017, Mammen moved from Merck to Johnson & Johnson, taking over from Hait as the head of pharmaceutical R&D. Until this January, Mammen was officially appointed as a senior leader of Johnson & Johnson's Executive Committee. However, this appointment lasted only eight months before Mammen chose to leave.

After earning his Ph.D. from Harvard University, Mammen co-founded Theravance in 1997 with two other industry professionals. Over the course of 17 years, Mammen initiated and led multiple research projects, four of which resulted in FDA-approved drugs. In 2014, Theravance spun off Theravance Biopharma, with Mammen serving as the head of R&D, leading a team of approximately 200 researchers. These R&D experiences paved the way for Mammen to take on the role of R&D head at a major pharmaceutical company.

Subsequently, he moved to Innoviva to serve as Vice President of R&D for two years before returning to Theravance. In 2016, Mammen joined Merck & Co., taking on the role of Senior Vice President, primarily overseeing businesses in cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, immunology, and oncology. He was once groomed as the successor to Roger Perlmutter, the head of Merck's R&D.

"A Bold" Bet

During his tenure at Johnson & Johnson, Mammen has consistently maintained an industry-wide perspective focused on innovation, tapping into its potential, and as a result, has made several "bold" bets. For instance, the collaboration between Janssen (of Johnson & Johnson) and Legend Biotech on the BCMA CAR-T project.

In June 2017, Legend Biotech's BCMA CAR-T was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, revealing the study results of what was then called LCAR-B38M for the treatment of advanced relapsed or refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma. The data showed that among 35 patients with relapsed multiple myeloma after previous treatments who received Legend Biotech's CART therapy, 33 (94%) achieved clinical remission within two months of treatment, with an objective response rate of 100%.

This impressive data has sparked widespread attention in the industry and also facilitated the collaboration between Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen and Legend Biotech. According to the cooperation agreement, Johnson & Johnson paid Legend Biotech an upfront payment of $350 million along with subsequent milestone payments. Although by today's standards, the $350 million upfront payment may not seem particularly high, at that time, it set a record for the largest upfront payment in a patent licensing deal by a Chinese pharmaceutical company and represented the most favorable terms of cooperation.

In February this year, the FDA officially approved Legend Biotech's BCMA CAR-T Cilta-cel (Carvykti) for marketing, used to treat patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (r/r MM). As of June 30, 2022, Carvykti generated net trade sales of approximately 24 million US dollars.

This collaboration not only enabled the first CAR-T product manufactured in China to be successfully launched in the U.S. market but also provided Johnson & Johnson with a foothold in the CAR-T field.

Notably, at this year's ASCO meeting, Legend Biotech also presented the results of the Phase II multi-cohort study CARTITUDE-2 (NCT04133636), which aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Carvykti in treating multiple myeloma patients across different clinical settings, demonstrating the potential of Carvykti for earlier treatment of multiple myeloma.

Perhaps it can be said that Carvykti's sales in the first half of this year are just the beginning, with the potential to unlock a broader market space in the future.

Johnson & Johnson Lowers Full-Year Forecast

At the end of last year, Johnson & Johnson announced its spin-off plan — merging pharmaceuticals and medical device businesses, while spinning off the consumer health business to form two separate publicly listed companies. Johnson & Johnson expects the new consumer health company structure to be completed by the end of 2022.

Entering 2022, Johnson & Johnson's performance continued to rise. According to the latest half-year report, Johnson & Johnson's sales reached 47.446 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 4%. Among them, the pharmaceutical business achieved a revenue of 26.186 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of the year; the medical device business achieved a revenue of 13.869 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of the year; and the consumer health business achieved a revenue of 7.391 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of the year.

This performance successfully placed Johnson & Johnson in the second position among multinational pharmaceutical companies in the first half of the year's performance rankings, with a $6 billion gap from the first place, Pfizer.

Among all businesses, Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical segment contributed the highest sales, with growth drivers mainly coming from areas such as autoimmune diseases, oncology, anti-infectives, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. The growth was primarily driven by several products, including Stelara (Ustekinumab), Darzalex (Daratumumab), Imbruvica (Ibrutinib), Tremfya (Guselkumab), and Erleada (Apalutamide).

However, the semi-annual report also reveals that while the "blockbuster products" continue to generate some revenue for Johnson & Johnson, the sales of many individual products have stagnated, even leading to the contradictory situation of revenue growth accompanied by a decline in net profit.

As the market continues to recover, Johnson & Johnson expects stronger business performance in the second half of the year compared to the first half. However, the company has lowered its full-year sales forecast, reducing its revenue target from the originally planned $94.8-95.8 billion to $93.3-94.3 billion, a decrease of 1.7%.

In the past year, two major position changes at Johnson & Johnson

In August 2021, Johnson & Johnson announced that Alex Gorsky, who had been at the helm for 9 years, would hand over the position of CEO to Duato. Alex will serve as the Chairman of the Board, and Joaquin Duato, Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee, will become Chief Executive Officer starting January 3, 2022.

Gorsky has been serving as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson since 2012. During his tenure, Gorsky oversaw a more than 60% increase in R&D investment in 2020, reaching $12 billion, along with hundreds of acquisitions and collaborations. One of the key focuses of the R&D investment was oncology, where the company’s sales grew from approximately $2 billion in 2011 to over $12 billion in 2020.

Regarding the reason for leaving, Alex Gorsky pointed out, "During my 30-year career at Johnson & Johnson, I have witnessed the company's growth and expansion. Only in the past decade, Johnson & Johnson has undergone a transformation, significantly increased investment in R&D, driven some of the most important global healthcare advancements, made major strategic shifts in the overall business, and achieved record-breaking performance. Due to family health reasons, I need to focus more on my family, which is also the right time for me personally."

Two Months After CEO Announced Resignation, Johnson & Johnson Announces: Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels Plans to Retire by End of Year.

During his tenure at Johnson & Johnson, Stoffels established a strong R&D pipeline and oversaw the development of the company's next-generation vaccines. His departure marks the second time within a year that the largest American pharmaceutical company has announced a key position to be filled.

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