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Johnson & Johnson history
Johnson & Johnson company history timeline
1886: Johnson brothers begin producing surgical dressings in N ew Brunswick, New Jersey.
They founded Johnson & Johnson in 1886 with 14 employees, eight women and six men.
Robert Wood Johnson joined his brothers, James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson, and created a line of ready-to-use sterile surgical dressings in 1886.
1887: Company is incorporated as Johnson & Johnson (J& J).
The company published "Modern Methods of Antiseptic Wound Treatment", a guide on how to do sterile surgery using its products, and in 1888, distributed 85,000 copies to doctors and pharmacists across the United States.
The first commercial first aid kit was designed in 1888 to support railroad construction workers, who were often hundreds of miles from medical care.
By 1889, most surgeons had adopted Lister’s methods.
In 1889, the company hired pharmacist Fred Kilmer as its first scientific director, who led its scientific research and wrote educational manuals.
The establishment of a bacteriological laboratory in 1891 gave resear ch a boost, and by the following year the company had met accepted re quirements for a sterile product.
In 1894, the company began producing Johnson's Baby Powder, the company's first baby product.
The company introduced the world's first maternity kit in 1894 to aid at-home births.
What started as support for wounded soldiers in 1898 has evolved into a legacy of philanthropy that spans the globe.
The adhesive bandage was furt her improved in 1899 when, with the cooperation of surgeons, J&J introduced a zinc oxide-based adhesive plaster that was stronger and overcame much of the problem of the skin irritation that plagued many patients.
1900 The Start of a Tradition
In 1901, the company published the Handbook of First Aid, a guide on applying first aid.
In 1904, the company expanded its baby care products with "Lister's Sanitary Diapers", a diaper product for infants.
R.W. Johnson died in 1910 and was succeeded as chairman by his brothe r James.
Robert Wood Johnson died in 1910, and he was succeeded as president of the company by his brother James Wood Johnson.
To guara ntee a source for the company's increasing need for textile materials , J&J purchased Chicopee Manufacturing Corporation in 1916.
In 1916, the company acquired Chicopee Manufacturing Company in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts to meet demand.
The f irst international affiliate was founded in Canada in 1919.
1919: International expansion begins with the establishment of Johnson & Johnson Canada.
In 1919, Johnson & Johnson opened the Gilmour Plant near Montreal, its first factory outside of the United States, which produced surgical products for international customers.
In 1920, Earle Dickson combined two Johnson & Johnson products, adhesive tape and gauze, to create the first commercial adhesive bandage.
1921: Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages make their debut.
In 1921, the company released Johnson's Baby Soap.
A few yea rs later, in 1923, Robert W. Johnson's sons, Robert Johnson and J. Se ward Johnson, took an around-the-world tour that convinced them that J&J should expand overseas, and Johnson & Johnson Limited was established in Great Britain a year later.
1924: Overseas expansion begins with the establishment of John son & Johnson Limited in the United Kingdom.
In 1924 the company's first overseas manufacturing facility was opened in Slough, England.
In 1931, Johnson & Johnson introduced the first prescription contraceptive gel marketed as Ortho-Gynol.
James Wood Johnson takes over the leadership of Johnson & Johnson until 1932.
In 1933, Constant Janssen, the father of Paul Janssen, acquired the right to distribute pharmaceutical products of Richter, a Hungarian pharmaceutical company, for Belgium, the Netherlands and Belgian Congo.
On October 23, 1934, he founded the N.V. Produkten Richter in Turnhout.
In 1944, Johnson & Johnson became a publicly traded company and acquired a groundbreaking company which became Ethicon, for the production of sterile surgical sutures.
That year, J&J also continued its record of issuing dividends to shareholders every quarter since 1944, increa sed its dividend for the 43rd straight year, and achieved a double-di git increase in earnings for the 19th consecutive year.
1944: Company goes public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Johnson & Johnson acquired George F. Merson's company in 1947, and it was renamed Ethicon Suture Laboratories.
In 1953 this became Ethicon Inc.
In 1956, Paul Janssen founded his own research laboratory within the Richter-Eurpharma company of his father.
In 1959, Johnson & Johnson acquired McNeil Laboratories and a year later, the company was able to sell Tylenol for the first time without a prescription.
In 1959, Cilag joined Johnson & Johnson.
1960: McNeil Labs introduces Tylenol as an over-the-counter (O TC) pain reliever.
On October 24, 1961, the company was acquired by Johnson & Johnson.
#FirstAidFriday: In 1961, #JNJ introduced the Marine First Aid Kit with the Resuscitube, a first aid device designe… https://t.co/fnxR53sL7s
To bolster its drug R&D efforts, J&J completed its first majo r pharmaceutical deal since the 1961 purchase of Janssen Pharmaceutic a.
Also, 1963 marks the last year that JOHNSON'S® Baby Powder is sold in tins.
Meantime, the company expanded its feminine hygiene lin e through the 1973 acquisition of the German firm Doctor Carl Hahn G.m.b .H., maker of the o.b. brand of tampons.
Sellars, Hofmann's protégé, had become chairman in 1973 , and served in that position for three years.
1975: Through a significant price decrease, Tylenol is transfo rmed into a mass-marketed product.
Burke succeeded Sellar s in 1976 as CEO and chairman of the board, and David R. Clare was ap pointed president.
Janssen Biotech, Inc., formerly known as Centocor Biotech, Inc., is a biotechnology company that was founded in Philadelphia in 1979.
A Tylenol recall was issued in 1982 after seven people died from cyanide poisoning.
In 1982, Centocor transitioned into a publicly traded company.
On February 23, 1985, group chairman of Johnson & Johnson International, Giorgio Petronio, presided over the ground breaking ceremony for a new building at the Paranaque site that would house all of Johnson&Johnson Philippines’administrative offices.
After the historic event at EDSA in 1986, growth once again became the priority for the Company.
In 1986 J&J acquired LifeScan, Inc., maker of at- home blood-monitoring products for diabetics.
By the end of 1987, the Company rebound was in full swing and for the first time, Johnson & Johnson Philippines was welcomed into the ranks of the country’s top 100 corporations.
Following the acquisition of Frontier Contact Lenses, which was renam ed Vistakon, J&J introduced the Acuvue brand of disposable contac t lenses in the United States in 1988.
In 1989 Bristol-Myers launched an aggressive advertising campaign tha t positioned its Nuprin brand ibuprofen pain reliever in direct compe tition with Tylenol.
Burke and Clare retired in 1989 and were succeeded by three executive s: CEO and Chairman Ralph S. Larsen, who came from the consumer secto r; Vice-Chairman Robert E. Campbell, who had headed the professional sector; and President Robert N. Wilson, who had headed the pharmaceut ical sector.
Net earnings had nearly quad rupled since 1989, while net sales nearly tripled over the same perio d.
1989: J&J and Merck form joint venture to develop OTC vers ions of Merck's prescription medications.
J ames Burke's savvy, yet honest, handling of the Tylenol tampering inc ident earned him a spot in the National Business Hall of Fame, an hon or awarded in 1990.
Ethicon Endo-Surgery was part of Ethicon Inc. until 1992, when it became a separate corporate entity under the J&J umbrella.
The skin care line had received a boost in 1993 through the purchase of R oC S.A. of France, a maker of hypoallergenic facial, hand, body, and other products under the RoC name.
J&J spent another billion dolla rs in 1995 for the clinical diagnostics unit of Eastman Kodak Company , which was particularly strong in the areas of clinical chemistry, w hich involves the analysis of simple compounds in the body, and immun o-diagnostics.
1995: Merck and J&J launch Pepcid AC; company acquires the clinical diagnostics unit of Eastman Kodak Company.
In 1997, in exchange for several consumer products, J&J acquired the OTC rights to the Motrin bran d of ibuprofen pain relievers from Pharmacia & Upjohn.
Johnson & Johnson acquired DePuy Synthes in 1998.
Propulsid had garnered nearly $ 1 billion in sales in 1999.
In 1999, Centocor became a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
The year 2000 got off to a rough start for the company, as it was for ced to withdraw from the market a prescription heartburn medication, Propulsid, after the drug had been linked to 100 deaths and hundreds of cases of cardiac irregularity.
In the meantime, Johnson & Johnson expanded its OTC pain reliever lineup in 2000 by acquiring the St Joseph brand, best known for its orange-flavored, low-dose aspirin, which was in wide use as a doctor -recommended daily therapy.
2001: ALZA Corporation is purchased for $13.4 billion.
In 2001, McNeil Consumer Healthcare changed its name to McNeil Consumer & Specialty Medicals Products.
Grace del Rosario-Castano became the 12th president and managing director of Johnson&Johnson Philippines on the first of April, 2002 – the first Filipina to take the helm of the Company.
In pharmaceuticals, J&J once again turned acquisiti ve to bolster a somewhat somnolent drug-development pipeline, buying Scios Inc. in April 2003.
Finally, the company introduced Splenda, a no-calorie sweetener that by 2003 would garner the top position in United States retail sales of tabletop sweeteners.
One of the company's key achievements of 2003 was the receipt of FDA approval for Cordis's Cypher, a stent coated with a drug desig ned to reduce reblockage of blood vessels.
On October 27, 2004, the Paul Janssen Research Center was founded.
Sales of Natrecor rose to $384 million by 2004, bu t the potential blockbuster status of the drug came into question fol lowing reports that it was damaging patients' kidneys.
During 2004 revenues reached $47.35 billion and increased for the 71st consecutive year.
In 2008, Centocor, Inc. and Ortho Biotech Inc. merged to form Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc.
In 2008, J&J announced it would acquire Mentor Corporation for $1 billion and merge its operations into Ethicon.
In June 2009, Johnson & Johnson, through a new wholly owned subsidiary, Kite Merger Sub, Inc., announced it would purchase all outstanding shares of common stock of Cougar Biotechnology, Inc. for $43.00 in cash or around $970 million.
In June 2010, Centocor Ortho Biotech acquired RespiVert, a privately held drug discovery company focused on developing small-molecule, inhaled therapies for the treatment of pulmonary diseases.
In June 2011, Centocor Ortho Biotech changed its name to Janssen Biotech, Inc. as part of a global effort to unite the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies around the world under a common identity.
In September 2011 the business acquired SterilMed, Inc.
On June 14, 2012, Johnson and Johnson acquired Synthes for $19.7 billion.
In August 2013, the company acquired Aragon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
In November 2014, the company acquired Alios BioPharma, Inc. for $1.75 billion, and Alios was incorporated into the infectious diseases therapeutic area of Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
In December 2014, the company announced that it would co-develop MacroGenics cancer drug candidate (MGD011) which targets both CD19 and CD3 proteins in treating B-cell malignant tumours.
In January 2015, the company announced that it will utilize Isis Pharmaceuticals' RNA-targeting technology to discover and develop antisense drugs targeting autoimmune disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, with the partnership potentially generating up to $835 million for Isis.
In November 2015, Biosense Webster, Inc. acquired Coherex, Medical Inc. expanding the companies range of treatment options for patients with atrial fibrillation.
In March 2016, J&Js Ethicon business unit announced it would acquire NeuWave Medical, Inc.
In January 2017, J&J subsidiary Ethicon announced it would acquire Megadyne Medical Products, Inc., and the next month it acquired Torax Medical for an undisclosed sum.
In February 2017, medical device manufacturing company, Integra LifeSciences, announced it would buy Johnson & Johnson’s Codman neurosurgery business for $1.05 billion.
In March 2018, the company announced that LifeScan, Inc. would be sold off to Platinum Equity for around $2.1 billion.
In May 2018, Janssen announced that it would acquire BeneVir Biopharm, Inc. for an undisclosed sum.
In December 2019, XBiotech Inc. announced that it would sell its novel antibody treatment (bermekimab) that neutralizes interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1⍺) to Janssen Biotech, Inc. for $750 million plus up to a further $600 million.
In 2019, Johnson & Johnson made over $100 billion in sales.
In 2019, Johnson & Johnson announced the release of photochromic contact lenses.
Demand for the product Tylenol surged two to four times normal levels in March 2020.
The partnership was expanded to include Catalent's Italian facility in July 2020.
In July 2020, Johnson & Johnson pledged to deliver up to 300 million doses of its vaccine to the United States, with 100 million upfront and an option for 200 million more.
In September 2020, Johnson & Johnson started its 60,000-person phase 3 adenovirus-based vaccine trial.
The trial was paused on October 12, 2020, because a volunteer became ill, but the company said it found no evidence that the vaccine had caused the illness and announced on October 23, 2020, that it would resume the trial.
The Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, developed by its Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, received an EUA in the United States on February 27, 2021 and Conditional Marketing Authorization (CMA) by the European Commission on March 11
In April 2021, the company reported that its Covid-19 vaccine achieved $100 million sales in the first quarter, accounting for less than 1% of its total revenue.
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Johnson & Johnson competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merck | 1891 | $64.2B | 74,000 | 1,540 |
| Bayer | 1973 | $17.0B | 20,735 | 3,284 |
| Hospira | 2004 | $4.5B | 19,000 | - |
| Amgen | 1980 | $33.4B | 22,000 | 573 |
| Gilead Sciences | 1987 | $28.8B | 11,800 | 548 |
| Bausch + Lomb | 1853 | $4.8B | 12,000 | 805 |
| Boston Scientific | 1979 | $16.7B | 36,000 | 742 |
| Reckitt Benckiser | 1977 | $15.9B | 43,000 | 62 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | 1887 | $48.3B | 30,000 | 870 |
| Eli Lilly and Company | 1876 | $45.0B | 33,625 | 681 |
Johnson & Johnson history FAQs
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Johnson & Johnson may also be known as or be related to Johnson & Johnson Services Inc, J&J Family of Companies, Johnson & Johnson and Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc.