JNJ, §1A diff (2017 → 2018)

Item 1A. RISK FACTORS The Company faces a number of uncertainties and risks that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of the Company's control. In addition to the other information in this report and the Company’s other filings with the SEC, investors should consider carefully the factors set forth below. Investors should be aware that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors and that the following is not meant to be a complete discussion of all potential risks or uncertainties. If known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, the Company’s business, results of operations or financial condition could be adversely affected, potentially in a material way. Global sales in the Company’s pharmaceutical and medical devices segments may be negatively impacted by healthcare reforms and increasing pricing pressures. Sales of the Company’s pharmaceutical and medical device products are significantly affected by reimbursements by third-party payers such as government healthcare programs, private insurance plans and managed care organizations. As part of various efforts to contain healthcare costs, these payers are putting downward pressure on prices at which products will be reimbursed. In the U.S., increased purchasing power of entities that negotiate on behalf of Medicare, Medicaid, and private sector beneficiaries, in part due to continued consolidation among health care providers, could result in further pricing pressures. In addition, increased political scrutiny could result in additional pricing pressures. Outside the U.S., numerous major markets, including the EU and Japan, have pervasive government involvement in funding healthcare and, in that regard, directly or indirectly impose price controls, limit access to, or reimbursement for, the Company’s products, or reduce the value of its intellectual property protection. The Company is subject to significant legal proceedings that can result in significant expenses, fines and reputational damage. In the ordinary course of business, Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries are subject to numerous claims and lawsuits involving various issues such as patent disputes, product liability and claims that their product sales, marketing and pricing practices violate various antitrust, unfair trade practices and/or consumer protection laws. The most significant of these proceedings are described in Note 21, “Legal Proceedings” under Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Report. While the Company believes it has substantial defenses in these matters, it is not feasible to predict the ultimate outcome of litigation. The Company could in the future be required to pay significant amounts as a result of settlements or judgments in these matters, potentially in excess of accruals, including matters where the Company could be held jointly and severally liable among other defendants. The resolution of, or increase in accruals for, one or more of these matters in any reporting period could have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations and cash flows for that period. Furthermore, as a result of cost and availability factors, effective November 1, 2005, the Company ceased purchasing third-party product liability insurance. Product reliability, safety and effectiveness concerns can have significant negative impacts on sales and results of operations, lead to litigation and cause reputational damage. Concerns about product safety, whether raised internally or by litigants, regulators or consumer advocates, and whether or not based on scientific evidence, can result in safety alerts, product recalls, governmental investigations, regulatory action on the part of the FDA (or its counterpart in other countries), private claims and lawsuits, payment of fines and settlements, declining sales and reputational damage. These circumstances can also result in damage to brand image, brand equity and consumer trust in the Company’s products. Product recalls have in the past, and could in the future, prompt government investigations and inspections, the shutdown of manufacturing facilities, continued product shortages and related sales declines, significant remediation costs, reputational damage, possible civil penalties and criminal prosecution. Changes in tax laws or exposures to additional tax liabilities could negatively impact the Company’s operating results. Changes in tax laws or regulations around the world could negatively impact the Company’s effective tax rate and results of operations. A change in statutory tax rate in any country would result in the revaluation of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities related to that particular jurisdiction in the period in which the new tax law is enacted. This change would result in an expense or benefit recorded to the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Earnings. The Company closely monitors these proposals as they arise in the countries where it operates. Changes to the statutory tax rate may occur at any time, and any related expense or benefit recorded may be material to the fiscal quarter and year in which the law change is enacted. On December 22, 2017, the U.S. enacted The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the TCJA), which introduced significant changes to U.S. corporate income tax law that will have a meaningful impact on the Company’s provision for income taxes. Accounting for the income tax effects of the TCJA requires significant judgments to be made in interpreting its provisions. Anticipated guidance from the U.S. Treasury about implementing the TCJA, which should be final by June 22, 2019 (18 months after enactment), may result in adjustments that could materially affect the Company’s financial position and results of operations as well as the effective tax rate in the period in which the adjustments are made. On September 28, 2018, the Swiss Parliament approved the Federal Act on Tax Reform and AHV Financing (Swiss Tax Reform). However, a referendum has been called and, as a result, a public vote on the Swiss Tax Reform will take place on May 19th, 2019. If the Swiss Tax Reform passes, then the measures are expected to come into force in either January 2020 or January 2021. Prior to approval in the referendum and its subsequent cantonal implementation, the proposed Swiss Tax Reform is not enacted and therefore the Company has not reflected any of the potential impacts in its fiscal results. The Company is currently assessing the impact of the proposed Swiss Tax Reform, and when enacted, the law may have a material impact on the Company’s operating results. The Company conducts business and files tax returns in numerous countries and is addressing tax audits and disputes with many tax authorities. In connection with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, companies are required to disclose more information to tax authorities on operations around the world, which may lead to greater audit scrutiny of profits earned in other countries. The Company regularly assesses the likely outcomes of its tax audits and disputes to determine the appropriateness of its tax reserves. However, any tax authority could take a position on tax treatment that is contrary to the Company’s expectations, which could result in tax liabilities in excess of reserves. The Company may not be able to successfully secure and defend intellectual property rights essential to the Company’s businesses. The Company owns or licenses a significant number of patents and other proprietary rights, determined by patent offices, courts and lawmakers in various countries, relating to its products and manufacturing processes. These rights are essential to the Company’s businesses and materially important to the Company’s results of operations. Public policy, both within and outside the U.S., has become increasingly unfavorable toward intellectual property rights. The Company cannot be certain that it will obtain adequate patent protection for new products and technologies in the U.S. and other important markets or that such protections, once granted, will last as long as originally anticipated. Competitors routinely challenge the validity or extent of the Company’s owned or licensed patents and proprietary rights through litigation, interferences, oppositions and other proceedings. These proceedings absorb resources and can be protracted as well as unpredictable. In addition, challenges that the Company’s products infringe the patents of third parties could result in the need to pay past damages and future royalties and adversely affect the competitive position and sales of the products in question. The Company has faced increasing patent challenges from third parties seeking to manufacture and market generic and biosimilar versions of the Company's key pharmaceutical products prior to expiration of the applicable patents covering those products. In the U.S., manufacturers of generic versions of innovative human pharmaceutical products may challenge the validity, or claim non-infringement, of innovator products through the Abbreviated New Drug Application, or ANDA, process with the FDA. The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA), enacted in 2010, which created a new regulatory pathway for the approval by the FDA of biosimilar alternatives to innovator-developed biological products, also created mechanisms for biosimilar applicants to challenge the patents on the innovator biologics. The inter partes review (IPR) process with the USPTO, created under the 2011 America Invents Act, is also being used by competitors to challenge patents held by the Company’s subsidiaries. In the event the Company is not successful in defending its patents against such challenges, or upon the “at-risk” launch (despite pending patent infringement litigation) by the generic or biosimilar firm of its product, the Company can lose a major portion of revenues for the referenced product in a very short period of time. Current legal proceedings involving the Company’s patents and other intellectual property rights are described in Note 21, “Legal Proceedings-Intellectual Property” of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Report. The Company’s businesses operate in highly competitive product markets and competitive pressures could adversely affect the Company’s earnings. The Company faces substantial competition in all three operating segments and in all geographic markets. The Company’s businesses compete with companies of all sizes on the basis of cost-effectiveness, technological innovations, intellectual property rights, product performance, real or perceived product advantages, pricing and availability and rate of reimbursement. The Company also competes with other market participants in securing rights to acquisitions, collaborations and licensing agreements with third parties. Competition for rights to product candidates and technologies may result in significant investment and acquisition costs and onerous agreement terms for the Company. Competitors’ development of more effective or less costly products, and/or their ability to secure patent and other intellectual property rights and successfully market products ahead of the Company, could negatively impact sales of the Company’s existing products as well as its ability to bring new products to market despite significant prior investment in the related product development. For the Company’s pharmaceutical businesses, loss of patent exclusivity for a product often is followed by a substantial reduction in sales as competitors gain regulatory approval for generic and other competing products and enter the market. Similar competition can be triggered by the loss of exclusivity for a biological product. For the Company’s medical device businesses, technological innovation, product quality, reputation and customer service are especially important to competitiveness. Development by other companies of new or improved products, processes and technologies could threaten to make the Company’s products or technologies less desirable, less economical or obsolete. The Company’s consumer businesses face intense competition from other branded products and retailers’ private-label brands. If the Company fails to sufficiently differentiate and market its brand name consumer products, this could adversely affect revenues and profitability of those products. Significant challenges or delays in the Company’s innovation and development of new products, technologies and indications could have an adverse impact on the Company’s long-term success. The Company’s continued growth and success depends on its ability to innovate and develop new and differentiated products and services that address the evolving health care needs of patients, providers and consumers. Development of successful products and technologies is also necessary to offset revenue losses when the Company’s existing products lose market share due to various factors such as competition and loss of patent exclusivity. New products introduced within the past five years accounted for approximately 25% of 2018 sales. The Company cannot be certain when or whether it will be able to develop, license or otherwise acquire companies, products and technologies, whether particular product candidates will be granted regulatory approval, and, if approved, whether the products will be commercially successful. The Company pursues product development through internal research and development as well as through collaborations, acquisitions, joint ventures and licensing or other arrangements with third parties. In all of these contexts, developing new products, particularly pharmaceutical and biotechnology products and medical devices, requires significant investment of resources over many years. Only a very few biopharmaceutical research and development programs result in commercially viable products. The process depends on many factors including the ability to discern patients’ and health care providers’ future needs; develop promising new compounds, strategies and technologies; achieve successful clinical trial results; secure effective intellectual property protection; obtain regulatory approvals on a timely basis; and, if and when they reach the market, successfully differentiate the Company’s products from competing products and approaches to treatment. New products or enhancements to existing products may not be accepted quickly or significantly in the marketplace due to product and price competition, changes in customer preferences or healthcare purchasing patterns, resistance by healthcare providers or uncertainty over third-party reimbursement. Even following initial regulatory approval, the success of a product can be adversely impacted by safety and efficacy findings in larger real world patient populations, as well as market entry of competitive products. The Company faces increasing regulatory scrutiny which imposes significant compliance costs and exposes the Company to government investigations, legal actions and penalties. Like other companies in the healthcare industry, the Company is subject to extensive regulation, investigations and legal action, by national, state and local government agencies in the U.S. and other countries in which they operate. Regulatory issues regarding compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) (and comparable quality regulations in foreign countries) by manufacturers of drugs, devices and consumer products can lead to fines and penalties, product recalls, product shortages, interruptions in production, delays in new product approvals and litigation. In addition, the marketing, pricing and sale of the Company’s products are subject to regulation, investigations and legal actions including under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Medicaid Rebate Program, federal and state false claims acts, state unfair trade practices acts and consumer protection laws. Increased scrutiny of health care industry business practices in recent years by government agencies and state attorneys general in the U.S., and any resulting investigations and prosecutions, carry risk of significant civil and criminal penalties including, but not limited to, debarment from participation in government healthcare programs. Any such debarment could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business and results of operations. The most significant current investigations and litigation brought by government agencies are described in Note 21, “Legal Proceedings-Government Proceedings” under Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Report. The Company faces a variety of risks associated with conducting business internationally. The Company’s extensive operations and business activity outside the U.S. are accompanied by certain financial, economic and political risks, including those listed below. Foreign Currency Exchange: In fiscal 2018, approximately 49% of the Company’s sales occurred outside of the U.S., with approximately 23% in Europe, 8% in the Western Hemisphere, excluding the U.S., and 18% in the Asia-Pacific and Africa region. Changes in non-U.S. currencies relative to the U.S. dollar impact the Company’s revenues and expenses. While the Company uses financial instruments to mitigate the impact of fluctuations in currency exchange rates on its cash flows, unhedged exposures continue to be subject to currency fluctuations. In addition, the weakening or strengthening of the U.S. dollar may result in significant favorable or unfavorable translation effects when the operating results of the Company’s non-U.S. business activity are translated into U.S. dollars. Inflation and Currency Devaluation Risks: The Company faces challenges in maintaining profitability of operations in economies experiencing high inflation rates. The Company has accounted for operations in Argentina (beginning in the fiscal third quarter of 2018) and Venezuela as highly inflationary, as the prior three-year cumulative inflation rate surpassed 100%. While the Company strives to maintain profit margins in these areas through cost reduction programs, productivity improvements and periodic price increases, it might experience operating losses as a result of continued inflation. In addition, the impact of currency devaluations in countries experiencing high inflation rates or significant currency exchange fluctuations could negatively impact the Company’s operating results. Illegal Importation of Pharmaceutical Products: The illegal importation of pharmaceutical products from countries where government price controls or other market dynamics result in lower prices may adversely affect the Company’s sales and profitability in the U.S. and other countries in which the Company operates. With the exception of limited quantities of prescription drugs for personal use, foreign imports of pharmaceutical products are illegal under current U.S. law. However, the volume of illegal imports continues to rise as the ability of patients and other customers to obtain the lower-priced imports has grown significantly. Anti-Bribery and Other Regulations: The Company is subject to various federal and foreign laws that govern its international business practices with respect to payments to government officials. Those laws include the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which prohibits U.S. publicly traded companies from promising, offering, or giving anything of value to foreign officials with the corrupt intent of influencing the foreign official for the purpose of helping the Company obtain or retain business or gain any improper advantage. The Company’s business is heavily regulated and therefore involves significant interaction with foreign officials. Also, in many countries outside the U.S., the health care providers who prescribe human pharmaceuticals are employed by the government and the purchasers of human pharmaceuticals are government entities; therefore, the Company’s interactions with these prescribers and purchasers are subject to regulation under the FCPA. In addition to the U.S. application and enforcement of the FCPA, various jurisdictions in which the Company operates have laws and regulations, including the U.K Bribery Act 2010, aimed at preventing and penalizing corrupt and anticompetitive behavior. Enforcement activities under these laws could subject the Company to additional administrative and legal proceedings and actions, which could include claims for civil penalties, criminal sanctions, and administrative remedies, including exclusion from health care programs. Other Legal, Social and Political Risks. Other risks inherent in conducting business globally include: • protective economic policies taken by governments such as trade protection measures and import/export licensing requirements; • compliance with local regulations and laws including, in some countries, regulatory requirements restricting the Company’s ability to manufacture or sell its products in the relevant market; • diminished protection of intellectual property and contractual rights in certain jurisdictions; • potential nationalization or expropriation of the Company’s foreign assets; and • disruptions to markets due to war, armed conflict, terrorism, social upheavals or pandemics. Interruptions and delays in manufacturing operations could adversely affect the Company’s business, sales and reputation. The Company’s manufacture of products requires the timely delivery of sufficient amounts of complex, high-quality components and materials. The Company's subsidiaries operate 111 manufacturing facilities as well as sourcing from hundreds of suppliers around the world. The Company has in the past, and may in the future, face unanticipated interruptions and delays in manufacturing through its internal or external supply chain. Manufacturing disruptions can occur for many reasons including regulatory action, production quality deviations or safety issues, labor disputes, site-specific incidents (such as fires), natural disasters such as hurricanes and other severe weather events, raw material shortages, political unrest and terrorist attacks. Such delays and difficulties in manufacturing can result in product shortages, declines in sales and reputational impact as well as significant remediation and related costs associated with addressing the shortage. The Company relies on third parties to manufacture certain of our products. Any failure by or loss of a third party manufacturer could result in delays and increased costs, which may adversely affect our business. The Company relies on third parties to manufacture certain of our products. We depend on these third party manufacturers to allocate to us a portion of their manufacturing capacity sufficient to meet our needs, to produce products of acceptable quality and at acceptable manufacturing yields and to deliver those products to us on a timely basis and at acceptable prices. However, we cannot guarantee that these third party manufacturers will be able to meet our near-term or long-term manufacturing requirements, which could result in lost sales and have an adverse effect on our business. Other risks associated with our reliance on third parties to manufacture these products include, reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance, misappropriation of the Company’s intellectual property, limited ability to manage our inventory, possible breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third party and the possible termination or nonrenewal of the manufacturing agreement by the third party at a time that is costly or inconvenient for us. Moreover, if any of our third party manufacturers suffer any damage to facilities, lose benefits under material agreements, experience power outages, encounter financial difficulties, are unable to secure necessary raw materials from their suppliers or suffer any other reduction in efficiency, the Company may experience significant business disruption. In the event of any such disruption, the Company would need to seek and source other qualified third party manufacturers, likely resulting in further delays and increased costs which could affect our business adversely. An information security incident, including a cybersecurity breach, could have a negative impact to the Company’s business or reputation To meet business objectives, the Company relies on both internal information technology (IT) systems and networks, and those of third parties and their vendors, to process and store sensitive data, including confidential research, business plans, financial information, intellectual property, and personal data that may be subject to legal protection. The extensive information security and cybersecurity threats, which affect companies globally, pose a risk to the security and availability of these IT systems and networks, and the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the Company’s sensitive data. The Company continually assesses these threats and makes investments to increase internal protection, detection, and response capabilities, as well as ensure the Company’s third party providers have required capabilities and controls, to address this risk. To date, the Company has not experienced any material impact to the business or operations resulting from information or cybersecurity attacks; however, because of the frequently changing attack techniques, along with the increased volume and sophistication of the attacks, there is the potential for the Company to be adversely impacted. This impact could result in reputational, competitive, operational or other business harm as well as financial costs and regulatory action. The Company maintains cybersecurity insurance in the event of an information security or cyber incident, however, the coverage may not be sufficient to cover all financial losses. Item 1B.