J&J Bets on Cancer Over Obesity as FDA Clears GSK Antibiotic for Drug-Resistant Infections
Johnson & Johnson will not pursue the obesity drug market, Chief Executive Joaquin Duato said, opting instead to build the company into what he described as the world's leading cancer company. The move sets J&J apart from rivals scrambling to develop or acquire weight-loss medicines in the wake of blockbuster treatments from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. Separately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved GSK's oral antibiotic Utebzi for complicated urinary tract infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria.
Johnson & Johnson will not pursue the obesity drug market, Chief Executive Joaquin Duato said, opting instead to build the company into what he described as the world's leading cancer company. The move sets J&J apart from rivals scrambling to develop or acquire weight-loss medicines in the wake of blockbuster treatments from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. Separately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved GSK's oral antibiotic Utebzi for complicated urinary tract infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria.
J&J Doubles Down on Oncology
Duato's remarks position oncology as one of J&J's core growth pillars following the company's spin-off of its Kenvue consumer health business. The strategic pivot toward cancer is already backed by capital deployment: J&J paid $3.05 billion in cash last year to acquire Halda Therapeutics, gaining access to an oral therapy for prostate cancer that the company describes as an innovative new class of treatment.
The decision to sidestep obesity is notable given the scale of investment across the pharmaceutical sector. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have established early dominance with their weight-loss drugs, prompting many competitors to seek acquisitions or in-house programs. J&J is explicitly declining to join that chase.
FDA Clears GSK's Utebzi for Resistant UTIs
The FDA's approval of Utebzi gives patients an oral alternative to intravenously administered carbapenems — a class of antibiotics typically reserved as a last resort when infections resist other drugs. The pill does not work through a novel mechanism of action, but its oral formulation represents a meaningful shift in how drug-resistant complicated urinary tract infections can be managed.
GSK secured rights to Utebzi through a $591 million licensing deal with Spero Therapeutics in 2022. The path to approval was not straightforward: the FDA had previously rejected Spero's original marketing application and requested an additional clinical trial before reconsidering.
Spero's Long Road to Market
The agency's earlier rejection and subsequent demand for more clinical data added years to the antibiotic's development timeline under Spero. GSK's acquisition of the licensing rights came just months after that first setback, a bet that the additional trial work would ultimately satisfy regulators — a bet that has now paid out.