“We expect Innovative Medicine sales growth to be slightly stronger in the first half of the year compared to the second half, given the anticipated entry of STELARA biosimilars in Europe towards the middle of the year.”

In context

“ry's current perspective on Pillar 2 is harmful, reducing U.S. incentives for innovation and resulting in U.S. based multinational companies paying more tax revenue to foreign governments. Our full year share count calculation for adjusted earnings per share in 2024 will include the remaining benefit equal to approximately 120 million shares from the approximately 191 million net share reduction in outstanding J&J shares following the Kenvue exchange offer. Given all these factors, we expect adjusted operational earnings per share to grow 7.4% at the midpoint for a range of $10.55 to $10.75. Based on the euro spot rate of 1.09 from last week, we do not estimate any currency impact on earnings per share. I'll now provide some qualitative considerations on quarterly phasing for your models. We expect Innovative Medicine sales growth to be slightly stronger in the first half of the year compared to the second half, given the anticipated entry of STELARA biosimilars in Europe towards the middle of the year. This headwind will be partially offset by continued uptake from our recently launched products. We project MedTech operational sales growth to be relatively consistent throughout the year, expecting procedures in 2024 to remain above pre-COVID levels. The first half of the year will continue to have modest impact from Russia sanctions as our licenses are approved. We anticipate China VBP pricing for surgical IOLs and orthopedic sports to begin in 2024 with impacts from 2023 VBP in electrophysiology, Endocutters, Energy, Spine and Trauma to begin to anniversary throughout 2024. Regarding EPS phasing, it is important to highlight that the first half of the year will benefit from the full 191 million net share reduction following the Kenvue exchange offer with only a partial comparative bene”