Neuroscience, Rebuilt by PurchaseNarrow moat

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) — moat facet

J&J's neuroscience business stopped shrinking only after it grew one drug and bought another for $14.5 billion.

J&J's neuroscience business shows both ways the company replaces products. Spravato, a nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression, was grown internally: sales went from $689 million in 2023 to $1,077 million in 2024 and $1,696 million in 20251, driven by continued increased physician and patient demand2. Caplyta was bought: J&J paid $132.00 per share, total consideration of $14.5 billion, for Intra-Cellular Therapies, completed on 2 April 20253.

Neuroscience sales by product, 2025 ($M)Invega family3,810Spravato1,696Caplyta (from April)700Concerta584Other neuroscience1,048J&J Form 10-K FY2025
Two growing products carry an older portfolio.

The two together are what turned the segment around. Neuroscience sales were $7,140 million in 2023 and $7,115 million in 2024, a business going nowhere4. In 2025 they rose 10.1% to $7,837 million5, and in the second quarter of 2026 by 14.0% to $2,337 million, with United States neuroscience up 20.5%6.

The older products tell the other half of the story. The long-acting Invega family fell 9.8% to $3,810 million in 2025, primarily due to the impact of Medicare Part D redesign7, and Concerta fell 9.0%8. Without Spravato and Caplyta the segment would have shrunk.

What this shows about the moat is that J&J's position in psychiatry rests on commercial reach to psychiatrists and on the ability to pay for a product when its own laboratories did not produce one. Both are real advantages; only one of them compounds without buying.

Marketing spending changed in the same year. Advertising expenses worldwide, comprising television, radio, print and internet advertising, were $1.6 billion in 2025 against $0.6 billion in 2024 and $0.5 billion in 20239. The filing does not allocate the increase, but 2025 was the year J&J took over Caplyta and added new Tremfya indications. Spending that nearly tripled in a year is a sign that the new franchises are being built with money rather than inherited.

Spravato is also becoming an American franchise: $514 million of its $584 million second-quarter sales were in the United States10, where it grew 40.7%11. Caplyta is sold only in the United States12.

Call it a narrow advantage bought partly at full price. The cleaner test is neuroscience growth excluding Caplyta: the company reported that Caplyta added 0.9 points to first-half 2026 operational growth13, and an underlying segment that grows on its own would say the purchase is building on something rather than propping it up.

Moat trajectory: Widening

Neuroscience grew 14.0% in the latest quarter on Spravato and Caplyta.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Neuroscience sales, latest quarter
$2,337M, +14.0% (Q2 2026)

The segment's growth; underlying growth excluding Caplyta would show whether the purchase built on a healthy base.

Source: Johnson & Johnson Q2 2026 financial schedules ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Invega Shrinks Under the Part D Redesign
J&J's largest psychiatry drug lost about a tenth of its sales to a change in Medicare's rules, not to a competitor.
References
  1. ReportedSpravato, a nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression, was grown internally: sales went from $689 million in 2023 to $1,077 million in 2024 and $1,696 million in 2025, driven by continued increased physician and patient demand.
    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 ↗
  2. ReportedSpravato, a nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression, was grown internally: sales went from $689 million in 2023 to $1,077 million in 2024 and $1,696 million in 2025, driven by continued increased physician and patient demand.
    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 ↗
  3. ReportedCaplyta was bought: J&J paid $132.00 per share, total consideration of $14.5 billion, for Intra-Cellular Therapies, completed on 2 April 2025.
    Johnson & Johnson Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 28 December 2025) - financial statements and notes: income statement, balance sheet, cash flows, equity, segment income, acquisitions and geographic assets. — FY2025 · publ. 11 February 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedNeuroscience sales were $7,140 million in 2023 and $7,115 million in 2024, a business going nowhere.
    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 ↗
  5. ReportedIn 2025 they rose 10.1% to $7,837 million, and in the second quarter of 2026 by 14.0% to $2,337 million, with United States neuroscience up 20.5%.
    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. ReportedIn 2025 they rose 10.1% to $7,837 million, and in the second quarter of 2026 by 14.0% to $2,337 million, with United States neuroscience up 20.5%.
    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 ↗
  7. ReportedThe long-acting Invega family fell 9.8% to $3,810 million in 2025, primarily due to the impact of Medicare Part D redesign, and Concerta fell 9.0%.
    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 ↗
  8. ReportedThe long-acting Invega family fell 9.8% to $3,810 million in 2025, primarily due to the impact of Medicare Part D redesign, and Concerta fell 9.0%.
    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 ↗
  9. ReportedAdvertising expenses worldwide, comprising television, radio, print and internet advertising, were $1.6 billion in 2025 against $0.6 billion in 2024 and $0.5 billion in 2023.
    Johnson & Johnson Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 28 December 2025) - financial statements and notes: income statement, balance sheet, cash flows, equity, segment income, acquisitions and geographic assets. — FY2025 · publ. 11 February 2026 · source ↗
  10. ReportedSpravato is also becoming an American franchise: $514 million of its $584 million second-quarter sales were in the United States, where it grew 40.7%.
    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 ↗
  11. ReportedSpravato is also becoming an American franchise: $514 million of its $584 million second-quarter sales were in the United States, where it grew 40.7%.
    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 ↗
  12. ReportedCaplyta is sold only in the United States.
    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 ↗
  13. ReportedThe cleaner test is neuroscience growth excluding Caplyta: the company reported that Caplyta added 0.9 points to first-half 2026 operational growth, and an underlying segment that grows on its own would say the purchase is building on something rather than propping it up.
    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 ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026