Investors may find growth opportunities in the healthcare sector and related exchange traded fund as the industry continues to develop new innovative products.
For instance, U.S. healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) announced that in the next four years, it expects to submit over 10 new medicines, which could potentially generate $1 billion in annual revenue each, Reuters reports.
Later this year, J&J plans to file for approval for the experimental drug daratumumab for multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in the U.S. and Europe. Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen projects daratumumab sales could hit $1.3 billion by 2019.
The shift into research and development comes at a time as big pharmaceutical names brace for large drug patent expirations.
“Johnson & Johnson’s R&D efforts support its robust revenue base,” according to Morningstar‘s Sector Director Damien Conover. “In pharmaceuticals, the company recently launched several new blockbusters, which should allow Johnson & Johnson to escape largely unscathed from upcoming patent expirations, unlike many of its competitors.”
J&J, along with other innovators, will help support the growing healthcare industry. The company is the largest component in many broad healthcare-related ETFs. For example, J&J makes up 10.2% of Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLV), 9.8% of iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (NYSEArca: IYH), 8.6% of Vanguard Health Care ETF (NYSEArca: VHT) and 8.5% of Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF (NYSEArca: FHLC).
XLV is the largest healthcare ETF available. IYH provides a suitable alternative, but comes with a heftier 0.43% expense ratio. VHT also shows similar exposure, except it has a much broader portfolio of 312 positions. Lastly, FHLC is a relatively new and inexpensive option player on the field, but it more thinly traded than its older competitors.