News briefs on Janssen, Bayer and Merck KGaA/Threshold

In the USA, the Arkansas jury found that the Janssen unit of US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) committed more than 238,000 violations of the state’s Medicaid fraud laws by illegally marketing Risperdal (risperidone) for almost four-year period starting in 2002, and imposed a penalty of around $1.1 billion, according to US media reports. The state, which is also seeking damages in the case, had sought more than $1.2 billion in penalties.

Janssen spokeswoman Teresa Mueller said the company was disappointed with the decision, and "firmly believes it did not violate the Arkansas Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act or the Arkansas consumer fraud statute." She added that "it is our position that an individual state should not penalize a pharmaceutical company for using an FDA-approved package insert or decide for itself whether a company complies with FDA rules."

Bayer files Xarelto for PE and DVT in Europe