Top J&J Oncology Leader Explains The Tangible Steps To Creating Hope For More Patients

However, we know advancements in treatment involve years of research, clinical trials, regulatory hurdles, and lots of investment, which doesn’t come easy.

The path to drug approval is rarely smooth, and setbacks are part of the process. Last December, Johnson & Johnson experienced one such hurdle when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declined to approve the subcutaneous version of its lung cancer therapy, amivantamab (marketed as Rybrevant). The FDA’s decision followed a routine pre-approval inspection at a manufacturing facility, which identified observations that needed to be addressed prior to approval. The company told SurvivorNet that it continues to work closely with the FDA and hopes to make the subcutaneous formulation of Rybrevant available to patients soon.

Johnson & Johnson said in a news release at the time that the FDA’s rejection of its application for approval was “unrelated to the product formulation, or the efficacy and safety” of the drug itself.

A Worthy Investment

According to research published last year in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Network Open, published by the American Medical Association, on average, it costs drugmakers about $173 million to develop drugs, and this figure includes follow-up studies after the drug hits the market. When you include the cost of drugs that fail during development, the price jumps to around $516 million. When the cost of capital is included, that price tag can exceed $800 million, but it can easily extend into the billions of dollars depending on the parameters of clinical trials.

As a leader at one of the nation’s leading drug companies, Naumovic may be committed to bringing “hope” to cancer patients, but her pursuit of breakthrough therapies comes with a hefty price tag.

According to Johnson & Johnson’s 2024 Annual Report, the company invested $13.5B in 2024, totaling over $90 billion since 2016.

Breakthrough Treatments Alone Aren’t Enough

Looking ahead, a willingness to make major investments aimed at scientific breakthroughs alone isn’t enough—they must be paired with robust public education and equitable access to care, especially at the community hospital level, where, according to the Annals of Surgical Oncology, about 80% of patients are treated in these types of practices.

When asked what Johnson & Johnson is doing to boost education and improve access to care, Naumovic points to a pain point that needs more focus from the oncology and pharmaceutical community.

Community oncologists are “often engaged very late” in the process when new medicines are being developed, Naumovic tells SurvivorNet. That delay, she warns, can limit patient access to cutting-edge treatments.

When pressed on what she and Johnson & Johnson are doing to help close that gap, she says she is prioritizing early education for community oncologists and nurses—ensuring they’re informed and empowered from the start of the drug development process.

“We are designing research together with community oncology and bringing studies to every community oncology setting where we can help physicians understand the medicine before it comes to the market,” Naumovic said.

Hope For Multiple Myeloma, Lung Cancer & Bladder Cancer Patients

Looking ahead, she expressed hope that the next few years will bring “improved cell therapy outcomes in the frontline setting of multiple myeloma,” with a particular focus on expanding the reach of trispecific and bispecific antibody therapies (types of immunotherapies). These novel treatments, she said, could offer new options to patients “in a setting where there was no hope they could be treated.”

Beyond multiple myeloma, Naumovic identified several priority areas for Johnson & Johnson’s oncology research, including localized prostate cancer (a disease that is limited to the prostate gland) and non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (cancer in the lining of the bladder that does not involve the bladder muscle). She also pointed to a bold goal: doubling the five-year survival rate for patients with EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer—a population historically underserved by existing therapies.

“We’re making real progress in prostate, bladder, and lung cancers,” she said. “But progress alone isn’t enough. We have to make sure physicians and communities are educated—because only educated citizens can truly advocate for themselves.”

Ongoing Progress

Johnson & Johnson has received FDA approval for several oncology treatments in recent years, each targeting distinct and difficult-to-treat cancers.

Inlexzo (gemcitabine intravesical system): A chemotherapy treatment for low-grade, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. When delivered directly into the bladder over a period of time, Inlexzo uses a sustained-release of gemcitabine to reduce recurrence and improve local control.

Rybrevant (amivantamab-vmjw): a treatment used to treat non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) that has EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, which is a subset of lung cancer that historically has limited treatment options.

The drug works like a guided missile, finding and sticking to the bad cancer cells. It targets and attaches to two specific proteins on cancer cells, disrupting their growth signals and activating the immune system to fight the cancer. Once it finds its target, it blocks the signals the cells need to grow and spread. This stops the cancer from getting worse and helps patients feel better for a longer time. It doesn’t just attack all rapidly dividing cells in the way traditional chemotherapy does. Instead, it goes after the cancer cells with the mutation it was designed to treat while avoiding the healthy surrounding cells. This means it can be more effective and might have fewer side effects than other treatments.

Doctors give Rybrevant to patients through an infusion, which means the medicine is delivered directly into the bloodstream via a vein, similar to getting an IV drip. Treatment is usually given once every few weeks or according to a schedule set up by your doctor. Rybrevant’s side effects may include mouth sores, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting.

Talvey (talquetamab-tgvs) is a multiple myeloma (a type of blood cancer) treatment that’s been approved by the FDA to treat patients whose disease has returned after undergoing prior lines of treatment. It works by binding to both GPRC5D (a protein found on myeloma cells) and CD3 (a type of protein) on T cells, redirecting the immune system to attack cancer cells.
Talvey belongs to a class of drugs known as bispecific antibodies, a form of immunotherapy. It works by bringing cancerous myeloma cells close enough to immune cells so that the immune system kills the myeloma cells. Known side effects, such as cytokine release syndrome (a condition that may cause fever, nausea, fatigue, etc.), neurological issues, and infections, are possible.

During clinical trials leading up to its approval, Talvey shrank tumors in more than 70% of patients who had received at least four prior lines of therapy.

Johnson & Johnson is just one of several pharmaceutical companies investing in cancer drug research aimed at making treatments more accessible and tangible for patients, relentlessly holding onto hope. SurvivorNet will continue to spotlight the evolving landscape of cancer care across the oncology ecosystem, featuring multiple companies, voices of researchers, clinicians, and patients who are shaping the future of care.

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