Johnson & Johnson and Bayer said on Monday that they had agreed to pay $775 million to settle about 25,000 lawsuits involving the blood thinner Xarelto, which they jointly sell.

The settlement, which will be split evenly between the two companies, resolves state and federal cases in which patients sued the companies for failing to warn about potentially fatal bleeding episodes when patients took the drug.

Neither company admitted liability, and each noted that the companies had prevailed in the six lawsuits that went to trial. In a statement, Janssen, the pharmaceutical division of Johnson & Johnson, said it was settling because such complex litigation “demands an enormous amount of time and resources.” It added: “What’s the bottom line? We stand behind Xarelto and are eager and excited to move forward.”

In a separate statement, Bayer said, “We remain committed to the more than 45 million patients who have been prescribed Xarelto worldwide.”</s>Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson have agreed to pay $775 million to resolve claims that the blood thinner Xarelto causes excessive bleeding, according to the companies.

The deal, reached with plaintiffs' attorneys, will resolve 25,000 claims and is structured to limit liability going forward.

The two companies, which jointly developed the drug, have won all six Xarelto cases that have gone to trial so far.

The product remains on the market. The companies aren't admitting liability as part of the deal.

Bayer said Monday the settlement "allows the company to avoid the distraction and significant cost of continued litigation" and that it remains committed to the more than 45 million patients world-wide who have been prescribed Xarelto.

Johnson & Johnson said "We believe this is the right thing to do for patients and their doctors" and that they stand by the safety of the drug.

"This is a fair and just resolution for thousands of consumers who have substantial claims," said Andy Birchfield, a lawyer at Beasley Allen who represents the plaintiffs.</s>Two pharmaceutical giants agreed on Monday to settle more than 25,000 lawsuits in the United States in which plaintiffs alleged injuries and death due to taking prescription blood thinner Xarelto. According to Reuters, drug makers Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson, the two companies that jointly developed the medication, have agreed to settle with plaintiffs for a total of $775 million. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies do not admit liability.

Plaintiffs in the case alleged that Bayer and Johnson & Johnson failed to adequately warn of risks associated with taking the anti-coagulant drug, which is prescribed to prevent and treat blood clots, as well as to possibly lower the risk of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism, and stroke. The plaintiffs’ allegations include that patients taking Xarelto experienced unstoppable bleeding, which led to other severe conditions including fatalities. The pharma giants say these claims are without merit, and in a statement, Bayer said that the “settlement allows the company to avoid the distraction and significant cost of continued litigation.” Some of Bayer’s settlement costs will be offset by liability insurance, according to Reuters.

Xarelto earned (jnj) JNJ $2.47 billion in 2018 alone and has been (bayer-ag) Bayer’s best-selling drug for many years now. A prescription for Xarelto typically costs between $450 and $540 a month. In February, Xarelto was also slated to be the first of Johnson & Johnson’s prescription drugs to be advertised in television commercials.</s>Bayer and Johnson & Johnson have agreed to settle more than 25,000 lawsuits over their blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto for a total of $775 million, court documents on Monday showed.

The amount will be shared equally between the two companies that jointly developed the drug. Bayer and Johnson & Johnson do not admit liability under the agreement.

The settlement will resolve all pending lawsuits over Xarelto, which plaintiffs claimed causes uncontrollable and irreversible bleeding leading to severe injuries and even death among thousands of plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs accused the drugmakers of not warning about the bleeding risks, claiming their injuries could have been prevented had doctors and patients been provided adequate information.

Bayer in a statement on Monday said it continues to believe the claims are without merit. “However, this favorable settlement allows the company to avoid the distraction and significant cost of continued litigation,” the company said.

Johnson & Johnson in a statement said it continued to believe in the safety of Xarelto, but that the settlement was the right thing to do for patients and their doctors.

Xarelto is Bayer’s best-selling drug. It jointly developed Xarelto with Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit, which sells the blood clot preventive under a licensing agreement in the United States.

Airbus secured a $35 billion jet deal from China during a state visit by President Xi Jinping to Paris, dealing a fresh blow to Boeing as it grapples with the grounding of its best-selling jet.

The mammoth order consists of 290 A320 narrow-body planes and 10 A350 wide bodies, France-based Airbus said after the transaction was announced in Paris on Monday. The deal’s value is almost double that touted by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018.

The Airbus coup comes while Boeing’s 737 Max — the chief global rival to the A320 — has been idled following two fatal crashes in five months. The U.S. aircraft manufacturer is also struggling with the fallout from a China-U.S. trade war.

China has become the world’s most important aviation market as the fast growth of its middle class spurs demand for travel.

Hackers targeted "hundreds of thousands" of ASUSTeK computer owners by pushing a backdoor update software tool from the computer maker's servers, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab said Monday. Kaspersky said the attack, which took place between June and November, is possibly affecting over a million users all over the world.

Viacom has renewed its contract with AT&T, avoiding a blackout of MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central for DirecTV users, the companies said Monday. Viacom needed to resolve the AT&T contract before considering any other strategic moves.

8:30 a.m.: The Commerce Department releases housing starts for February.</s>Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Bayer recently agreed to settle all Xarelto related cases in the federal court for $775 million. Earlier in 2017, the companies were ordered by a Philadelphia court to pay $28 million in damages to an Indiana couple, related to internal bleeding about which the companies did not sufficiently warn patients, and it marked the first lawsuit loss for the drug. Xarelto is an anti-coagulant (blood thinner), which was launched in 2011 in the U.S. and its revenues for J&J stood at nearly $2.5 billion in 2018. J&J has marketing rights for the drug in the U.S. Xarelto’s performance so far has been strong, considering that the drug has broken into a crowded and competitive therapeutic area of cardiovascular diseases.

Xarelto is the brand name for the drug rivaroxaban, which is used for the treatment and prevention of blood clots, and prevention of strokes in people with irregular heartbeats. There were around 25,000 Xarelto cases pending in the federal court, alleging patients were not adequately warned about the risks of life threatening complications. The agreed settlement amount will be split equally between Bayer and J&J, translating into a little under $390 million in litigation charges for J&J. Note that both the companies did not admit to liability, rather agreed to settle because of complexity of the litigation, and the resources and time required to address the same.

The settlement amount isn’t high for the companies, when compared to some other such cases historically. For instance, German pharma company Boehringer Ingelheim paid $650 million in 2014 to settle around 4,000 cases in state and federal courts over its blood thinner Pradaxa. If we were to apply the same rate to settle all Xarelto cases, the amount for J&J and Bayer could be north of $4 billion.

J&J’s litigation expenses have been fairly high over the past few years. The company spent $675 million in 2016, $955 million in 2017, and $1.72 billion in 2018. However, some of these expenses were related to the company’s non-pharmaceuticals segment. It will be interesting to see how this figure trends in the coming years given the pile of lawsuits related to some of its products, including talc (Also See ~ Did The Market Overreact Following Reports That J&J Knew Its Baby Powder Was Tainted By Asbestos).

Overall, the incremental litigation expenses of under $390 million will have minimal impact on the company’s near term earnings, which we forecast to be $8.50 per share on an adjusted basis in 2019. We have created an interactive dashboard analysis ~ A Quick Snapshot of Johnson & Johnson’s Q4 Performance And Trefis Estimates For The Full Year 2019. You can adjust the various drivers to see the impact on the company’s adjusted earnings and price estimate. Also, here’s more Healthcare Data.

What’s behind Trefis? See How it’s Powering New Collaboration and What-Ifs

For CFOs and Finance Teams | Product, R&D, and Marketing Teams

Like our charts? Explore example interactive dashboards and create your own.</s>NEW BRUNSWICK (dpa-AFX) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Bayer (BAYZF.PK) on Monday said they have agreed to settle more than 25,000 U.S. lawsuits involving their blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto for a total of $775 million.



The settlement will be split evenly between the two companies. The agreement resolves all pending state and federal cases in which plaintiffs sued the companies for failing to warn about potentially fatal bleeding episodes when patients took the drug.



Bayer in a statement on Monday said it continues to believe the claims are without merit. 'However, this favorable settlement allows the company to avoid the distraction and significant cost of continued litigation,' the company said.



J&J in a statement said it continued to believe in the safety of Xarelto, but that the settlement was the right thing to do for patients and their doctors.



Xarelto is Bayer's best-selling drug. It generated 3.6 billion euros in revenue to the German group's pharmaceutical business last year.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX</s>Johnson & Johnson And Bayer Agree To $775M Settlement Over Accusations They Didn’t Warn About Blood Thinner Side Effects

The agreement that stemmed from patients who used the popular blood thinner Xarelto caps one of the more high-profile instances of product liability litigation facing the pharmaceutical industry in recent years.

The New York Times: Bayer And Johnson & Johnson Settle Lawsuits Over Xarelto, A Blood Thinner, For $775 Million 

 Johnson & Johnson and Bayer said on Monday that they had agreed to pay $775 million to settle about 25,000 lawsuits involving the blood thinner Xarelto, which they jointly sell. The settlement, which will be split evenly between the two companies, resolves state and federal cases in which patients sued the companies for failing to warn about potentially fatal bleeding episodes when patients took the drug. (Thomas, 3/25)

Stat: J&J And Bayer To Pay $775M To Settle Thousands Of Xarelto Lawsuits 

 In a statement, the Janssen unit at J&J explained the company wanted to avoid the “enormous” time and resources to defend the lawsuits. But the health care giant also maintained the company “always appropriately informed physicians of the information that they need to make treatment decisions” and continues to “stand behind” Xarelto. (Silverman, 3/25)</s>March 25 (Reuters) - Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson have agreed to settle more than 25,000 U.S. lawsuits over their blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto for a total of $775 million, court documents on Monday showed.

The amount will be shared equally between the two companies that jointly developed the drug. Bayer and J&J do not admit liability under the agreement. (Reporting by Tina Bellon in New York Editing by Bill Berkrot)</s>Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson have agreed to settle more than 25,000 U.S. lawsuits over their blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto for a total of US$775 million, court documents on Monday showed.

REUTERS: Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson have agreed to settle more than 25,000 U.S. lawsuits over their blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto for a total of US$775 million, court documents on Monday showed.

The amount will be shared equally between the two companies that jointly developed the drug. Bayer and J&J do not admit liability under the agreement.

The settlement will resolve all pending U.S. lawsuits over Xarelto, which plaintiffs claimed causes uncontrollable and irreversible bleeding leading to severe injuries and even death among thousands of plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs accused the drugmakers of having failed to warn about the bleeding risks, claiming their injuries could have been prevented had doctors and patients been provided adequate information.

Bayer in a statement on Monday said it continues to believe the claims are without merit.

"However, this favorable settlement allows the company to avoid the distraction and significant cost of continued litigation," the company said.

J&J in a statement said it continued to believe in the safety of Xarelto, but that the settlement was the right thing to do for patients and their doctors.

Xarelto is Bayer's best-selling drug. It contributed 3.6 billion euros (US$4.07 billion) in revenue to the German group's pharmaceutical business last year.

Bayer on Monday said its share of the settlement amount will be partially offset by product liability insurance.

Bayer jointly developed Xarelto with J&J's Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit, which sells the blood clot preventer under a licensing agreement in the United States.</s>Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC lessened its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 46.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 236,364 shares of the company’s stock after selling 201,380 shares during the quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $30,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JNJ. Fundsmith Equity Fund L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the second quarter valued at $552,762,000. Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 20.4% during the third quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 30,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after acquiring an additional 5,190 shares during the period. Sather Financial Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 3.7% during the second quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 11,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. QUANTRES ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $829,000. Finally, Foundation Resource Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.43% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $136.91 on Friday. Johnson & Johnson has a fifty-two week low of $118.62 and a fifty-two week high of $148.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $370.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.68.

Johnson & Johnson announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.01%.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JNJ. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 4th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 price target (down previously from $137.00) on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, January 23rd. ValuEngine raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $153.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Johnson & Johnson has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.81.

COPYRIGHT VIOLATION NOTICE: “Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Shares Sold by Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC” was first published by Chaffey Breeze and is owned by of Chaffey Breeze. If you are reading this news story on another domain, it was copied illegally and republished in violation of US and international copyright law. The legal version of this news story can be accessed at https://www.chaffeybreeze.com/2019/03/24/johnson-johnson-jnj-shares-sold-by-atalanta-sosnoff-capital-llc.html.

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches and develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the health care field worldwide. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices. The Consumer segment offers baby care products under the JOHNSON'S brand; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DABAO, JOHNSON'S Adult, LE PETITE MARSEILLAIS, NEUTROGENA, and OGX brands; over-the-counter medicines, including acetaminophen products under the TYLENOL brand; cold, flu, and allergy products under the SUDAFED brand; allergy products under the BENADRYL and ZYRTEC brands; ibuprofen products under the MOTRIN IB brand; and acid reflux products under the PEPCID brand.

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Bayer and Johnson & Johnson announce that they have reached a $775 million agreement to settle approximately 25,000 outstanding litigation cases, which claim that their drug Xarelto caused severe and sometimes fatal bleeding episodes. Bayer and Johnson & Johnson had successfully defended the safety of the drug in all six prior cases that went to trial.