Reuters
Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay Amgen $150 mln
Friday October 18, 6:19 pm ET
biz.yahoo.com
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Oct 18 (Reuters) - Healthcare products maker Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - News) on Friday said it has been ordered to pay $150 million to settle a claim by Amgen Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMGN - News) over rights to a blockbuster anemia treatment.
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Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, said an arbitrator in Chicago denied Amgen's bid to terminate a 1985 license allowing J&J's Ortho Biotech subsidiary to sell Procrit, also known by the generic name erythropoetin, in the United States for all indications outside of kidney dialysis.
Amgen had filed suit in 1995, claiming that Ortho Biotech had breached its license rights by improperly making sales of the anemia drug into the dialysis market. Amgen, the world's No. 1 biotechnology company, sells the drug in the U.S. under the brand name Epogen.
The arbitrator awarded $150 million in damages, compared with the $1.2 billion sought by Amgen. J&J said it would pay the damage award, but seek attorneys' fees and costs from Amgen.
Johnson & Johnson said it will take a charge of 3 cents per share against third quarter 2002 earnings to reflect the damage award and will amend its results, which were announced on Tuesday, to reflect the charge. Excluding the charge, the company reiterated its recent guidance for 2002 earnings of $2.26 per share. |
