Johnson & Johnson plans to expand its work in infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis C and the flu, The Wall Street Journal reports. Sheri McCoy, who heads the company’s pharmaceuticals business, made that assertion during a presentation to investors of 2010 third-quarter earnings. The company already sells HIV drugs such as Prezista and Intelence through Tibotec, a pharmaceutical company it acquired in 2002. Johnson & Johnson has high hopes for telaprevir, a promising hep C treatment, being developed with Vertex Pharmaceuticals. It also has agreed to acquire Crucell, a vaccine maker.

To read the Journal article, click here.