With many challenges facing the drug industry in 2026, a bit of hope can make a big difference. While leaders of large pharmaceutical companies deal with political pressure, price limits, and patent expirations, they still need to show investors that their companies will grow in the future. As they reviewed their full-year earnings from 2025, leaders at major U.S. drugmakers highlighted their long-term revenue goals and strategies to navigate these uncertain times. The success of U.S. pharma giants like Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Merck & Co. reflects the overall health of the biopharma industry. Meeting these big goals would mean more money for mergers, licensing, and investments to support new companies with innovative medicines in development. Can Big Pharma overcome these challenges and reach their financial goals? Here are some statements from U.S. pharma CEOs in their recent earnings reports that point to promising revenue outlooks in the coming years. ‘Johnson & Johnson is the only healthcare company that will soon deliver more than $100 billion in annual revenue.’ – Joaquin Duato, CEO, Johnson & Johnson The challenges: A company the size of J&J always faces some issues. For this New Jersey drugmaker, the most pressing concerns include the recent loss of exclusivity for the blockbuster immunology drug Stelara, which brought in over $10 billion, Medicare drug pricing measures, and President Donald Trump’s proposed most-favored nation policy. J&J also continues to deal with thousands of lawsuits claiming its talc powder caused cancer. The positive side: CEO Joaquin Duato highlighted the $32 billion the company spent in 2025 on research and development and mergers. Although the loss of Stelara’s exclusivity will significantly impact J&J’s revenue in the short term, Duato noted that ‘we are different from other companies — we are not focused on one or two growth drivers.’ While Stelara was a major money-maker for J&J, the company’s strength lies in its diverse range of products. Between its pharma and medical technology divisions, J&J has 28 platforms or products with over $1 billion in annual revenue. Is this enough to help the drugmaker reach the $100 billion sales mark this year? With over $94 billion in 2025 sales and several meaningful approvals, that goal is within reach. ‘The foundation of our strategy in obesity and related conditions is targeting breakthrough medicines in what could be a $150 billion market.’ – Albert Bourla, CEO, Pfizer The challenges: Pfizer emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic with some setbacks. While the company’s quick work with partner BioNTech led to the first approved COVID vaccine, sales dropped when the crisis eased, making it hard for Pfizer to show growth to its shareholders. Combined with upcoming patent expirations for blockbusters like Ibrance, Eliquis, and Vyndaqel, the company has faced some tough years. The positive side: Not one to miss a trend, Pfizer is entering the lucrative weight loss market, outbidding Novo Nordisk last year to acquire next-gen GLP-1 maker Metsera. Although investors saw flaws in the acquisition’s star candidate, CEO Albert Bourla pointed to the massive potential in the obesity market during an earnings call. Pfizer also used its COVID windfall to fuel its pipeline with two other major deals in recent years, acquiring antibody-drug conjugate maker Seagen in 2023 and neuro specialist Biohaven in 2022. ‘We now have line of sight to over $70 billion of potential commercial opportunity by the mid-2030s.’ – Rob Davis, CEO, Merck & Co. The challenges: Keytruda, Keytruda, Keytruda. This cancer drug, which made up almost half of all Merck sales in 2025, will start losing exclusivity in the coming years, raising a key question for investors: What comes next? The positive side: Fortunately for CEO Rob Davis, Keytruda’s upcoming revenue decline isn’t a surprise, and the pharma giant has had years to build a suitable pipeline to fill that gap. The recent approval of a subcutaneous version of Keytruda should also help. The company is on track to reach $70 billion in overall sales by the middle of the next decade, most of which should be secured by 2027, Davis said on the call.