You may not automatically think of pharma giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ -0.46%) as a high-growth company. Yes, J&J is practically a household name, thanks to consumer products like Aveeno lotions and Band-Aid bandages. But these and other products haven't driven much growth over the past several years. And that may have pushed away some investors.

Things are changing at J&J though -- and a new era of growth might have already started. The star of the show? J&J's medtech business. It posted a double-digit increase in revenue in the second quarter. And more may be on the way.

Does this mean it's time to buy this big pharma stock? Let's find out.

Spinning off consumer health

Before talking about medtech, it's important to consider a big move J&J has made in the interest of growth. The pharma company is spinning off its consumer health business into a separate entity called Kenvue. That new company already launched its initial public offering.

For the moment, J&J remains the majority shareholder, so it includes most of Kenvue's earnings in its own report. Once it no longer holds a majority, though, Kenvue's earnings won't be a part of J&J's.

The consumer health business has posted slower growth than J&J's medtech and pharma businesses -- and has brought in less revenue. That means that once it's removed from the earnings picture, J&J's overall earnings growth should take off. And the move also means J&J can focus its resources on its two higher-growth -- and higher-revenue -- businesses.

Now, it's the perfect moment to talk about one of them. Medtech is a smaller business than J&J's pharma unit. For example, in the second quarter, it delivered $7.7 billion in revenue compared to pharma's $13 billion.

But it's winning when it comes to revenue growth. Medtech sales climbed more than 14% on an operational basis in the quarter. That's compared to 3.8% for pharma.

J&J's focus on key acquisitions and the performance of new products have driven gains -- and they could keep the strength going over time. J&J has 25 platforms across the company that represent more than $1 billion in annual sales. Thanks to J&J's acquisition of heart pump specialist Abiomed last year, 12 of those platforms are in the medtech business. And each of these billion-dollar medtech platforms grew in the first half of the year.

Abiomed's double-digit growth

As for Abiomed, its second-quarter sales climbed 20% compared to the figures it reported last year as an independent company. And Abiomed helped J&J's interventional solutions business reach operational growth of more than 56% in the quarter. 

J&J chief executive officer Joaquin Duato calls Abiomed "a key component of our medtech strategy in becoming a leader in heart recovery." And the company continues to look for acquisition opportunities to further strengthen the medtech portfolio.

Other stars of the interventional solutions business are new products such as the QDOT ablation catheter for atrial fibrillation and mapping catheter Octaray. The QDOT achieved an 86% success rate in a recent study and resulted in shorter procedure times when compared with standard catheters. We should see further growth in revenue as these products are rolled out in more locations.

Now, let's get back to our question: Is it time to buy this big pharma stock, thanks to the strength of medtech? Well, that's part of the reason J&J is a buy today. Medtech's acquisition of Abiomed, willingness to acquire other growth assets, and a variety of new innovative products should lift growth. At the same time, the spinoff of the consumer health business should offer revenue another boost.

Meanwhile, the stock is trading for only 15 times forward earnings estimates. And that looks like a bargain for the sneak peek we just got at J&J's new two-unit business -- and what the company could achieve down the road.