Genmab, Bayer, AbbVie and Legend: Rivals Inside the RevenueNarrow moat

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) — moat facet

J&J pays Genmab about $2.4 billion a year in royalties on its largest drug, which makes Genmab the company's most profitable partner and a rival at once.

Some of J&J's most important competitors are on the same side of the invoice. Genmab owns the two patent families behind Darzalex, J&J's largest product, and receives a royalty of 12% to 20% of total Darzalex net sales, about $2.4 billion in 2025 and $2.0 billion in 20241. Xarelto was co-developed with Bayer HealthCare, Imbruvica is co-marketed with Pharmacyclics, an AbbVie company, and Carvykti was licensed and developed in collaboration with Legend Biotech2.

Partner-linked products, 2025 sales ($M)Darzalex (Genmab)14,351Imbruvica (AbbVie)2,823Simponi (Merck Europe)2,668Xarelto (Bayer, US)2,633Carvykti (Legend)1,887J&J Form 10-K FY2025
About $24 billion of sales shared with a partner in some form.

These are real rivals. AbbVie, which shares Imbruvica with J&J, is itself a drug company worth $468.43 billion3. J&J reports Xarelto sales only in the United States, $664 million in the second quarter of 2026 and nothing internationally4; the rest of the world belongs to the partner that co-developed the drug.

Partnership also runs the other way. Simponi and Remicade sales rose in 2025 partly because Merck, Sharp and Dohme returned rights in Europe in the fourth quarter of 20245. A rival handing back a territory is a small windfall, and a reminder that product rights can be carved up and reassigned.

The pattern says something about J&J's moat. Partnering lets it bring products to market it did not discover, but it pays for the privilege in royalties and shared profits, and each partner gains knowledge and credibility that make it a stronger competitor later. Genmab collects more than $2 billion a year from J&J's commercial effort.

The partnerships also shape what J&J reports. Carvykti's capacity expansion, credited for its 2025 growth6, depends on manufacturing shared with Legend; Imbruvica's decline, down 18.6% in the second quarter7, is a loss J&J and AbbVie share. When a partnered product struggles, both companies feel it; when it succeeds, both collect. Neither can fully control the result.

Partners make J&J larger without making it proportionally richer. Track the Genmab royalty, up from $2.0 billion to $2.4 billion in a year8; it grows with Darzalex and shows how much of J&J's biggest success is paid out to the company that owns the patents.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

Royalties rise with Darzalex; partners keep their share.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Royalty paid to Genmab, 2025
about $2.4bn (2024: $2.0bn)

What J&J pays the owner of its largest product's patents; it grows with Darzalex.

Source: Johnson & Johnson Form 10-K, FY2025 ↗
References
  1. ReportedGenmab owns the two patent families behind Darzalex, J&J's largest product, and receives a royalty of 12% to 20% of total Darzalex net sales, about $2.4 billion in 2025 and $2.0 billion in 2024.
    Johnson & Johnson Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 28 December 2025) - Item 1 business: segments, competition, patents, the three largest products, royalties, collaboration partners and the regulatory table. — FY2025 · publ. 11 February 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedXarelto was co-developed with Bayer HealthCare, Imbruvica is co-marketed with Pharmacyclics, an AbbVie company, and Carvykti was licensed and developed in collaboration with Legend Biotech.
    Johnson & Johnson Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 28 December 2025) - Item 1 business: segments, competition, patents, the three largest products, royalties, collaboration partners and the regulatory table. — FY2025 · publ. 11 February 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedAbbVie, which shares Imbruvica with J&J, is itself a drug company worth $468.43 billion.
    Johnson & Johnson market capitalisation history - year-end values 2015-2025 ($284.22B in 2015, $348.19B in 2024, $498.60B in 2025) and related companies (Eli Lilly $1.03T, AbbVie $468.43B, Merck $365.34B). — 2015-2026 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedJ&J reports Xarelto sales only in the United States, $664 million in the second quarter of 2026 and nothing internationally; the rest of the world belongs to the partner that co-developed the drug.
    Johnson & Johnson second-quarter 2026 supplementary sales data, statement of earnings and non-GAAP reconciliation, Form 8-K exhibit 99.2 - Innovative Medicine and total sales by product, segment and region. — Q2 2026 · publ. 15 July 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedSimponi and Remicade sales rose in 2025 partly because Merck, Sharp and Dohme returned rights in Europe in the fourth quarter of 2024.
    Johnson & Johnson Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 28 December 2025) - Item 7 MD&A: Innovative Medicine segment, therapeutic-area and product sales analysis. — FY2025 · publ. 11 February 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedCarvykti's capacity expansion, credited for its 2025 growth, depends on manufacturing shared with Legend; Imbruvica's decline, down 18.6% in the second quarter, is a loss J&J and AbbVie share.
    Johnson & Johnson Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 28 December 2025) - Item 1 business: segments, competition, patents, the three largest products, royalties, collaboration partners and the regulatory table. — FY2025 · publ. 11 February 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedCarvykti's capacity expansion, credited for its 2025 growth, depends on manufacturing shared with Legend; Imbruvica's decline, down 18.6% in the second quarter, is a loss J&J and AbbVie share.
    Johnson & Johnson second-quarter 2026 supplementary sales data, statement of earnings and non-GAAP reconciliation, Form 8-K exhibit 99.2 - Innovative Medicine and total sales by product, segment and region. — Q2 2026 · publ. 15 July 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedTrack the Genmab royalty, up from $2.0 billion to $2.4 billion in a year; it grows with Darzalex and shows how much of J&J's biggest success is paid out to the company that owns the patents.
    Johnson & Johnson Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 28 December 2025) - Item 1 business: segments, competition, patents, the three largest products, royalties, collaboration partners and the regulatory table. — FY2025 · publ. 11 February 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026