Johnson Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, said today that it reached agreement to buy Micrus Endovascular Corp. for an estimated $480 million, subject to regulatory approval in the United States and other countries. Micrus shareholders, who also must approve the deal, will receive $23.40 for each share of stock they own. Micrus, San Jose, Calif., was founded in 1996 and makes implantable and disposable medical devices to treat stroke, brain aneurysms and other cerebral vascular diseases.

Johnson & Johnson won a mid-trial dismissal of a lawsuit by a sales representative who said she was fired for blowing the whistle on the company's promotion of the antipsychotic drug Risperdal for unapproved uses. State Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta threw out Lynn Powell's lawsuit at the end of a three-week trial in Trenton. Powell, 36, contended that she was fired in 2004 for protesting so-called off-label sales. Johnson & Johnson has operations in the Philadelphia region.

Paul McCartney says he's decided to reverse the order of the famous Lennon-McCartney songwriting credit to McCartney-Lennon. This move may open the doors to a firestorm of litigation and corporate turmoil he never imagined. McCartney's spokesman Geoff Baker defended the switch on Tuesday, saying it was not divisive. I beg to differ. I believe we're heading down a dark and foreboding path. Or is it foreboding and dark? Word is that the infighting at Johnson & Johnson has already boiled over with the families of Johnson battling the families of Johnson over the name sequence.

Merck & Co. is positioning itself to enter the market in over-the-counter medicines by teaming up in a new joint venture with Johnson & Johnson, the companies announced yesterday. The two health-care giants said they had entered into a 50-50 partnership to sell a broad range of nonprescription products derived mainly from Merck's arsenal of prescription medicines. The new venture also will seek products outside the two parent companies. "Consumers are increasingly taking more responsibility for their own health," said Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, Merck chairman and chief executive officer, "and the Johnson & Johnson Merck Consumer Pharmaceuticals Co. will provide innovative products of genuine value for over-the-counter use. " Vagelos said in November that Merck was studying ways to participate in the over-the-counter drug market.

Johnson & Johnson said yesterday that its fourth-quarter sales slipped slightly, but earnings rose 79 percent, thanks to lower tax and operating costs. The New Brunswick, N.J., health-care company, whose subsidiaries include McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals and Centocor Inc. in the Philadelphia suburbs, reported earnings of $2.2 billion, or 73 cents a share. The earnings were a big jump from the fourth quarter of 2004, when the company announced earnings of $1.2 billion, or 41 cents a share, after taking a $789 million charge related to taxes associated with funds repatriated under the American Jobs Creation Act. Fourth-quarter sales of Johnson & Johnson products - such as contraceptives, contact lenses, prescription drugs, joint reconstruction products, and heart stents - increased 3.1 percent globally to $5.5 billion, but fell 4.2 percent to $7.1 billion in the U.S. market, the company said in a statement.

Like many people, Michel Orsinger works for a company going through dramatic change because it has been acquired by a larger company. Unlike many people, Orsinger helped arrange the acquisition. Unlike almost anyone, Orsinger is getting $51.9 million for leaving the old company and a multimillion-dollar pay package from the new company. His new base salary of $700,000 will be a cut in pay from his old firm, but he will have some lucrative bonus opportunities. If he can make do clipping coupons for three years, he will get a stock package worth $17.2 million.

A Johnson & Johnson distribution center in Montgomery County that handled both bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol later found to contain cyanide was apparently not involved in the poisoning, a federal official said yesterday. John Norris, deputy commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said it was highly unlikely the bottles were adulterated at the Montgomeryville center since they came from separate batches totaling more than 300,000 delivered to two different store chains.

The existence of talks aimed at a possible merger of Johnson & Johnson and Synthes was confirmed Monday by Synthes, which has major operations in Chester County. Synthes is a global manufacturer of medical devices with headquarters in Switzerland and West Chester and four facilities in West Chester and one in Paoli. The company is one of the dominant players in the field of repairing bones, especially in the spine and those broken by trauma. That means plates and screws, compounds, and medical power tools.

Rumors of a takeover by pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson have pushed up shares of Centocor Inc. nearly a third in the last two weeks. The Malvern biotechnology company - which makes drugs for cardiovascular problems, cancer and other diseases - has been quietly shopping around for a partner to help it meet its long-term goals, analysts have said. Bloomberg News reported Friday that Centocor was close to an agreement with Johnson & Johnson, quoting a source close to the talks.

A pharmaceutical researcher was recovering yesterday at Temple University Hospital from burns he suffered during a flash fire at a laboratory Monday, a hospital spokeswoman said. The man suffered second- and third-degree burns on his face, hands and abdomen when a bottle of aliphatic hydrocarbon broke in a fourth-floor lab at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, said Greg Panico, a company spokesman. The victim has been identified as Lorenti Bonaga of Hatfield.