Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato on Fighting Cancer, AI and Medical Innovation

**Joaquin Duato** (0:00)
The goal for us is to try to eliminate cancer. So that's a high goal, and we are already making significant progress in certain cancers.

**Alan Murray** (0:10)
The WSJ Leadership Institute Presents Leaders. I'm Alan Murray. We talk a lot about transformation here on this podcast, but one of the most consequential for all of us is what's happening in healthcare. Advances in medicine, biotechnology, artificial intelligence are changing how diseases are diagnosed, treated, and prevented. They're helping people live longer, healthier lives, and opening the door to breakthroughs that once seemed out of reach. For this episode, we wanted to talk to Joaquin Duato, the Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson. He leads one of the world's largest healthcare companies as it undergoes a radical transformation of its own, sharpening its focus on medical innovation and some of the most complex diseases facing patients today. And it's why J&J ranked number one in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and life sciences category on the WSJ Leadership Institute's Best Companies for the Future list. At a time when everything from artificial intelligence to an aging population is reshaping medicine, technology isn't just changing the tools doctors and researchers use, it's helping unlock new treatments, speed the development of medicines, redefine what's possible.
Where's healthcare headed next? What's the next big breakthrough? My conversation with Joaquin Duato right after this break.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:31)
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**Alan Murray** (2:03)
I mentioned yesterday, by the way, that we had published a new ranking of S&P 500 companies, best companies for the future.
Happy to say Johnson & Johnson was in the top 20, right up there with all the tech companies, and number one among the pharmaceutical companies. So congratulations on that. So something about your leadership.

**Joaquin Duato** (2:25)
Thank you. You know, we are pleased with the recognition, but I would aim to be number one in the total ranking.

**Alan Murray** (2:32)
Overall. Okay. NVIDIA, look out.

**Joaquin Duato** (2:34)
NVIDIA, look out. And look, I think it reflects the state of opinion of things, right? Now there is a tremendous focus on the technology companies that we see everywhere, and hence why when you do a ranking, the majority of the companies that are on top are technology companies. Now, the value ultimately would be created by companies like us when we deploy that technology, and our moment will arrive.

**Alan Murray** (2:56)
So you're arguing 20 is too low. 20 out of 500 is pretty good, but...

**Joaquin Duato** (3:00)
Yeah, yeah. Look, we are a company that has embarked on a significant transformation in order to make sure that we focus on areas where we can make a bigger difference.
And that's medical innovation, medical breakthroughs. And I think that's a high cost and something that we are being successful at. So now we are squarely focusing medical innovation through medicine and medical technologies, trying to address some of the most complex diseases that have a big social impact. And that's what we are trying to do. And I think that's driving growth for the company and a good perspective for the coming years, which is also helped by technology too, right?

**Alan Murray** (3:44)
Yes. Well, let's dive into the transformation a little bit. I asked this group last night, is there any CEO in the audience? Who isn't leading the transformation? I didn't get any hands on that, so I assume everyone is. But you really have. You've been there four years. It's a pretty phenomenal change over that four year time. Kenview, all the consumer business has spun out. You've made 30, $35 billion worth of acquisitions. You've changed Johnson & Johnson pretty dramatically.
How would you describe the change? What's the difference between Johnson & Johnson of four years ago and Johnson & Johnson today?

**Joaquin Duato** (4:25)
That we are more focused and that we have more clarity on what is our strategy.
And it has a common umbrella, which is we're going to make a difference in diseases that are complex that affect millions of people around the world. We're going to focus on cardiovascular disease, in oncology, in neuroscience. And we are going to be able to bring advances in the standard of care that are going to affect millions of people. So that's our focus today. So we are a big complex problems. Big complex problems.