Johnson Johnson

Drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 12%, boosted by the introduction of new products and overall sales growth. For the period ended Dec. 31, profit totaled $307 million, or 47 cents a share, up from $274 million, or 41 cents a share in the 1991 quarter. Revenue was $3.5 billion, up 11.3% from $3.15 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary have been fined about $1.2 billion by an Arkansas judge after a jury found that the companies had downplayed risks associated with Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug. In a verbal ruling from the bench, Circuit Judge Tim Fox held that Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. committed nearly 240,000 violations of the state's Medicaid fraud law - one for each Risperdal prescription issued to state Medicaid patients over a 3 1/2-year period.

Johnson & Johnson said Amgen Inc. will pay it $205 million to compensate for Amgen sales of an anemia drug for uses reserved to Johnson & Johnson in a licensing agreement. The arbitration ends an eight-year dispute stemming from a 1985 agreement that limits Amgen's U.S. sales of its Epogen drug to use for kidney dialysis patients. However, the arbitration order also requires Johnson & Johnson to pay Amgen's legal costs, totaling as much as $100 million.

As Alzheimer's news goes, this tidbit is optimistic: An experimental drug to treat the memory-loss disease is safer than scientists originally expected. Researchers were concerned that bapineuzumab, a drug therapy being tested in mild to moderate Alzheimer's patients, carried the side effect of a brain swelling condition called vasogenic (cerebral) edema. But the brain swelling appears to go away, according to preliminary research presented this week. In one small clinical trial, researchers found there were fewer vasogenic edema cases as time went on. And the risk was smaller for lower doses of the drug.

Johnson & Johnson, in its biggest deal ever, agreed Tuesday to buy Mountain View, Calif.-based Alza Corp. for about $10.2 billion in stock in a move to strengthen its drug pipeline and allow it to deliver medicines in better ways. The deal, which was expected following reports Monday, will give the New Brunswick, N.J., company several promising new drugs, including Ditropan XL for treating overactive bladder and Concerta, a treatment for attention deficit disorder.

Johnson & Johnson agreed to buy Gynecare Inc. for stock valued at about $79 million, or $8.46 a share. The maker of medical devices, drugs and consumer-health products said buying Gynecare would expand its line of women's health products. The transaction is expected to close by the end of October, said J&J. Menlo Park-based Gynecare would become part of J&J's Ethicon Inc. division, which sells wound-closing and other surgical products.

Johnson & Johnson said an additional incident of counterfeiting involving the Procrit anemia drug has been found, the second time in a week the drug maker reported that some of the medicine was diluted. In a letter dated Friday, the company told doctors and other health-care professionals to watch for Procrit with Lot No. P002384.

Johnson & Johnson, the world's biggest maker of medical devices, said late Wednesday that it agreed to buy defibrillator maker Guidant Corp. for $25.4 billion to gain electrical devices for treating heart disease. In the deal, which had been rumored since last week, New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J would pay $76 for each share of Indianapolis-based Guidant, 40% of it in cash and the balance in stock, J&J said in a statement. The price for Guidant shares is 10.5% more than on Dec.

Johnson & Johnson, one of the world's largest healthcare product makers, bought closely held Egea Biosciences Inc. Terms weren't disclosed. San Diego-based Egea, which has about 39 employees, will join Johnson & Johnson's Centocor unit. Egea's technologies will help Centocor -- which introduced one of the earliest antibody medicines, ReoPro -- develop other protein-based biotechnology medicines. Shares of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson fell 7 cents to $54.63 on the NYSE.

Johnson & Johnson's third-quarter profit jumped 19%, helped by demand for medical devices and the arthritis medication Remicade. Net income at the world's fourth-biggest drug maker rose to $1.8 billion, or 60 cents a share, from $1.5 billion, or 49 cents, in the year-earlier period. Sales at the New Brunswick, N.J.-based company climbed 13% to $9.1 billion. Johnson & Johnson shares rose $1.73 cents to $59.56 on the NYSE.

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details . Johnson & Johnson is recalling a drug over an unpleasant odor … again. Janssen, a unit of J&J, recalled four batches of the HIV/AIDS drug Prezista on Wednesday after four customers reported a musty smell. The recall is for 400 mg and 600 mg doses of the drug, the company said in a recall announcement , sent to Britain, Ireland, Germany and Austria. A similar recall occurred last month:  Another Johnson & Johnson unit recalled 57,000 bottles of Topamax , an anti-seizure drug, in April over complaints of the foul odor.

When kids begin sniffling, the first thing many parents reach for is Children's Tylenol. But that option has been off the table ? or, out of the medicine cabinet ? since a massive recall last year. Nine months later, the Johnson & Johnson unit that was responsible is still ironing out its problems, and there's little indication of when parents will be able to turn to the brand. But medical experts say that when it comes to treating sick kids, there are still plenty of options. "The nice thing about this situation is that there are other alternatives to name brands," said Dr. Daniel Frattarelli, chairman of pediatrics at Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, Mich.

Johnson & Johnson, citing lax cleaning procedures and other problems at a manufacturing plant at the center of massive recalls of nonprescription drugs such as Tylenol, said Friday that it was recalling tens of millions more bottles. The company, whose reputation has been tarnished by the recalls, is recalling bottles and packages of various kinds of Tylenol, Benadryl, Rolaids and other consumer products, it said. J&J said it completed an investigation of historical records dating to 2007 for products sold in the U.S. and produced by its McNeil consumer healthcare unit, which makes most of the recalled products.

  A liquid biopsy? That’s what developers are calling a new blood test for cancer that’s been getting a lot of buzz lately. The test appears to be hypersensitive to even a single cell of cancer in the body. This video from KDAF-TV explains why this blood test would be a breakthrough in monitoring the spread of cancer in patients who have been diagnosed. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital are working with corporate partner Johnson & Johnson to develop this test.

Robert L. McNeil Jr., a Philadelphia chemist who developed a little-known pain reliever called paracetamol into the global blockbuster Tylenol, creating a fortune that he freely distributed to charities, universities and museums, died May 20 of a heart ailment at his home in Wyndmoor, Pa. He was 94. McNeil was not a brilliant synthetic chemist discovering new compounds through long hours in the laboratory, said Arnold Thackray of the nonprofit Chemical...

Tribune Washington Bureau The Food and Drug Administration, alarmed by quality-control problems with children's Tylenol and other Johnson & Johnson medications, prodded senior company officials last February to improve manufacturing and react faster to consumer complaints, a senior agency official told a congressional panel Thursday.  But promised improvements didn't come quickly enough, and it was not until April 30 that the company — under FDA pressure — announced the largest recall of pediatric over-the-counter medicine in history.

Johnson & Johnson, the world's largest maker of medical devices, said second-quarter earnings dropped 27% on costs for acquisitions and a decline in revenue from its biggest drug, Procrit for anemia. The company also said it was struggling to meet orders for the Cypher heart stent, a drug-coated mesh tube that keeps blood flowing through arteries. Net income fell to $1.21 billion, or 40 cents a share, from $1.65 billion, or 54 cents, a year earlier, the New Brunswick, N.J.-based company said.

Johnson & Johnson Co.'s LifeScan plant in Milpitas, Calif., was searched by investigators for the Justice Department and the Food and Drug Administration for evidence of possible criminal violations, the company and a law enforcement official said. The U.S.

LITIGATION $1.73-billion settlement in stent suits Johnson & Johnson said Boston Scientific Corp. would pay $1.73 billion to settle two suits related to patents for medical stents. Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific faces additional court challenges to its Promus stent products, including a lawsuit by Cordis Corp. Stents are mesh-wire tubes used to hold arteries open after they are surgically cleared of blockages. ACQUISITIONS Hummer sale is delayed a month General Motors Co.'s plan to sell the once-hot Hummer line to a Chinese heavy-equipment maker has been delayed by a month.

Casey Johnson was an heiress to one of the world's great fortunes, grew up privileged in Manhattan with socialite sisters Paris and Nicky Hilton and eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she became a familiar face on the Hollywood party scene. But amid a gilded existence, Johnson also struggled. She was diagnosed with diabetes, battled drug addiction, had strained relations with her family and last month was hit with criminal charges for allegedly breaking into the home of a girlfriend and taking $22,000 in property.