TheChek News Flow

J&J Portfolio Moves — Strategy Read-Across & NBTXR3 Implications

1. The Core Strategic Logic: Portfolio Darwinism Around Three Pillars

The pattern emerging from J&J's Q4 restated holdings is deliberate and consistent with the broader M&A posture they've been executing since 2023. J&J's pipeline strategy reflects a clearer prioritization of core therapeutic strengths — oncology and immunology — tempered by pragmatic responses to shifting market and regulatory dynamics.

The exits (Arrowhead, BiomX, Senseonics) share a common thread: all three were legacy relationships that no longer fit the refocused Innovative Medicine perimeter. The retentions (Legend, Protagonist) share the opposite trait: deep co-development hooks with strategic optionality on full acquisition.

J&J's approach is more than buying new companies — it is about strategically divesting slower-growth assets to unlock capital and management focus for redeployment into higher-growth opportunities. That is exactly what this holdings reshuffle illustrates in miniature.

2. The Three Pillars That Survive the Cull

Oncology — the anchor. J&J has a well-stocked portfolio in oncology and in prostate cancer specifically, for which it sells Zytiga, Akeega and Erleada. The $3.05bn acquisition of Halda Therapeutics and its RIPTAC platform confirms that oncology is where J&J is prepared to write large cheques for differentiated mechanisms. The lead candidate HLD-0915 targets prostate cancer, with new diagnoses projected to reach 1.7 million globally by 2030, and the once-daily therapy is designed to overcome mechanisms of resistance.

Immunology — the second pillar. Protagonist Therapeutics ($246M retained stake) is squarely here. The companies are co-developing an oral treatment for immune diseases, and J&J's decision to hold rather than exit signals continued conviction in the asset and optionality on a full buyout.

Neuroscience — the emerging third axis. The $14.6 billion acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies in January 2025 marked a rare example of J&J making a large move outside of its traditional strongholds, underscoring growing confidence that neuroscience can deliver both clinical impact and commercial durability. CAPLYTA delivered $240 million in sales in Q3 2025 alone, demonstrating how quickly an acquisition can become a core part of the growth story.

3. The NBTXR3/Nanobiotix Read-Across — What the Article Missed

This is the significant omission from the piece you shared. The J&J/Nanobiotix relationship is arguably more strategically committed than either Legend Biotech or Protagonist — and it has recently deepened, not widened.

Full operational control transfer: J&J completed the NANORAY-312 sponsorship transfer in the majority of regions, along with the transfer of full operational control of the Phase 3 study. This is not a passive equity stake — this is J&J taking the wheel of a pivotal oncology trial.

Amended financial terms that favour J&J's engagement: The amendment removes Nanobiotix's funding obligation for NANORAY-312, with J&J assuming nearly all remaining costs for the ongoing pivotal Phase 3 trial through completion. In exchange, J&J was released from select milestone payments — a classic trade that reduces J&J's optionality costs while deepening its operational lock-in.

The deal economics remain substantial: Potential milestone payments include $1.77bn for first programs including head and neck cancer and lung cancer, $650M for five new indications, $165M for Asian markets, and $220M per additional indication developed by Nanobiotix, with tiered double-digit royalties ranging from low 10s to low 20s.

Critical catalyst incoming: The critical milestone is completing NANORAY-312 recruitment in H1 2026, which will trigger the interim efficacy analysis — with J&J ready to file immediately given their sponsorship role. The CONVERGE randomized Phase 2 in unresectable Stage III lung cancer, initiated by J&J in January 2025, adds a second indication readout.

The Phase 1 data cascade for 2026 is also significant: clinical updates from ongoing or completed JNJ-1900 (NBTXR3) Phase 1 studies sponsored by Nanobiotix or MD Anderson in melanoma, lung cancer amenable to re-irradiation, pancreatic cancer, and esophageal cancer are expected in 2026.

4. Synthesis: What This Tells Us About J&J's Acquisition Playbook

The Duato doctrine ("value typically created by smaller deals") should be read as a preference, not a constraint. Acquirers have tended to target later-stage assets, ranging from Phase II through commercialisation, with J&J's acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.7 billion among the most notable transactions. When the science warrants it, J&J will write the large cheque.

5. Bottom Line for NBTXR3/Nanobiotix Positioning

The article's focus on Legend and Protagonist as "acquisition targets" is correct but incomplete. Nanobiotix sits in a structurally different category: J&J has already internalised the asset operationally (Phase 3 sponsorship, full operational control) and the deal economics are de-risked for J&J relative to a full buyout. The more relevant question isn't if J&J buys Nanobiotix, but at what point in the NANORAY-312 readout cycle does an acquisition become value-accretive vs. waiting for milestone triggers.

A positive interim efficacy readout in H2 2026 would almost certainly reprice that calculus sharply.

Key Points

Johnson & Johnson’s restated fourth-quarter holdings report, filed last week, reveals that the company exited three biotechs while retaining its stakes in several rumored acquisition targets.

The changes included the sale of 247,598 shares in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, previously a partner of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit, which rebranded as its Innovative Medicine division. The relationship came to an end in 2023 after Janssen shrunk its infectious disease and vaccine portfolios.

Johnson & Johnson also exited BiomX, another former collaborator, through the sale of 96,866 shares. The Israeli biotech in December suddenly halted its lead clinical program due to safety concerns, and has been restructuring since.

Also in the fourth quarter, Johnson & Johnson unloaded 54,621 shares of Senseonics Holdings to close out its stake in the medical technology maker.

Other holdings went unchanged, including Johnson & Johnson’s stake of 814,586 shares in Legend Biotech. The companies have an agreement to co-develop a cell therapy targeting multiple myeloma. Rumors surfaced in 2024 that Legend had enlisted a financial planner amid takeover interest, with analysts eyeing Johnson & Johnson as a potential buyer.

As of the end of the quarter, the company’s largest stake by dollar value was in Protagonist Therapeutics, another speculated acquisition target. Johnson & Johnson held 2,449,183 shares in the company, which were worth around $246 million based on Tuesday’s closing price of $100.39. The companies are already working together to develop an oral treatment for immune diseases.

Johnson & Johnson has long placed a premium on science and value creation, two factors that drive its acquisition strategy. Speaking at last year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, CEO Joaquin Duato asserted that larger deals were “outliers” and that value was “typically created by smaller deals.”

David Sacks is done as AI czar — here’s what he’s doing instead

David Sacks has used up his days as Donald Trump’s AI and crypto czar.

Speaking with Bloomberg on Thursday, the longtime entrepreneur, investor, and podcaster confirmed that his non-consecutive 130-day stint as a special government employee is over and that he’s moving on to co-chair the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) alongside senior White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios.

“I think moving forward as co-chair of PCAST, I can now make recommendations on not just AI but an expanded range of technology topics,” he told Bloomberg via a video interview. “So yes, this is how I’ll be involved moving forward.”

What that means in practice is Sacks will be much further from the power center in Washington than since the outset of this second Trump administration. As AI czar, Sacks had a direct line to Trump and a hand in shaping policy. PCAST is a federal advisory body, so while it studies issues, produces reports, and sends recommendations up the chain, it doesn’t make policy.

The council has existed in some form since FDR, though Sacks made a point to Bloomberg of noting that this particular iteration has “the most star power of any group like this” ever assembled, and it’s hard to argue he’s wrong. The initial 15 members include Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Marc Andreessen, AMD’s Lisa Su, and Michael Dell, among others. (That’s a lot of billionaires.)

Sacks told Bloomberg the council will take up AI, advanced semiconductors, quantum computing, and nuclear power, and that near-term attention will go toward pushing Trump’s national AI framework, released just last week. The framework is aimed at replacing what Sacks described to Bloomberg as a mess of conflicting state-level rules. “You’ve got 50 different states regulating this in 50 different ways,” he said, “and it’s creating a patchwork of regulation that’s difficult for our innovators to comply with.”

What Sacks didn’t address head-on was why the transition is happening now and whether his recent comments were a factor. Earlier this month, on the popular “All In” podcast that he co-hosts, Sacks publicly urged the administration to find an exit from the U.S.-backed war with Iran, walking through a set of worsening scenarios — attacks on oil infrastructure in neighboring countries, the destruction of desalination plants, the possibility of nuclear use by Israel — and calling for a polite way out. Trump responded by telling reporters that Sacks hadn’t spoken to him about the war. (The U.S.-Israel war on Iran has now been going on for approximately 27 days.)

Asked about the podcast episode on Thursday by Bloomberg, Sacks figuratively threw his hands in the air: “I’m not on the foreign policy team or the national security team,” he said, adding that his podcast comments represented his personal view, not an official one.

For all the marquee names Sacks is bringing to PCAST, it’s worth reflecting on what the council has historically been, which is an advisory body with some influence in some administrations and almost none in others.

President Obama’s version was seemingly the most productive on record, churning out 36 reports over eight years — two of which led to concrete policy changes, including an FDA rule that opened the market for over-the-counter hearing aids.

President Trump’s first-term council, by contrast, took nearly three years just to name its first members, produced a handful of reports, and made no particular mark, while President Biden’s council skewed heavily academic — Nobel laureates, MacArthur fellows, National Academy members — and issued a modest number of reports before the administration ended.

The current PCAST is a completely different animal, built almost entirely from the executive suites of the companies shaping the technology it will advise on.

Now, Sacks is again one of those unencumbered executives, free to resume his life as an investor and entrepreneur. A spokesperson for Craft Ventures, the firm Sacks co-founded and where he remains a partner, has not yet responded to related questions about next steps; TechCrunch reported last year on the ethics waivers Sacks obtained to maintain financial stakes in AI and crypto companies while shaping federal policy in both areas — an arrangement that drew sharp criticism from ethics experts and lawmakers.

Nestlé pushes ahead with €5bn Perrier and San Pellegrino deal

CD&R, KKR and PAI among firms through to next round in sale of 50% stake in water division

Nestlé’s sale of a multibillion euro stake in its water business has progressed, with a handful of private equity firms through to the next stage of bidding, according to people familiar with the matter.

The investment groups CD&R, KKR and PAI are through to the next round in a deal for a 50 per cent stake in the unit that could value the entire business at roughly €5bn, according to people familiar with the matter. Platinum Equity has also shown interest in the deal.

Nestlé has been working with investment bankers to explore a stake sale in its European water business, which includes brands such as San Pellegrino, Perrier and Acqua Panna. Initial bids were due earlier this month.

Its pursuit of a deal comes as the Swiss group undertakes a strategic overhaul led by new chief executive Philipp Navratil, who is seeking to turn around the struggling consumer goods group.

He has reorganised Nestlé to focus on four new categories: coffee, petcare, nutrition, and food and snacks. It has turned to private equity groups for other asset sales, including offloading the rest of its ice cream assets to joint venture partner Froneri that Nestlé jointly owns with PAI.

Since his appointment in September, Navratil has announced 16,000 job cuts over the next 18 months. He is also pressing ahead with plans to sell its vitamins and supplement brands.

Nestlé is not the only consumer group seeking to shed slower growing brands.

Unilever is also in discussions to sell its food division to spice and sauce maker McCormick, in a megadeal that would complete the consumer goods giant’s near decade-long pivot to faster growing beauty and personal care brands.

In 2021, Nestlé agreed a $4bn deal with US private equity firm One Rock Capital to sell its North American water business, which included the Poland Spring and Pure Life brands.

Nestlé, CD&R, KKR and PAI declined to comment. Platinum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.