J&J gets subpoenas over three drugs

J&J gets subpoenas over three drugs

	Published : Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:54 By : Agencies Print this Story

CHICAGO (AP) - Johnson & Johnson on Monday said it has received subpoenas from federal prosecutors in Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco related to the sales and marketing of three drugs. The drugs at issue are Risperdal, a treatment for schizophrenia and bipolar mania, the epilepsy treatment Topamax, and Natrecor, which is used to treat heart-failure patients, the New Brunswick, N.J., company said.

The investigations by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices in Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco have been disclosed before. The latest subpoenas seek information about the corporate supervision and oversight of J&J's Janssen, Ortho-McNeil and Scios subsidiaries, which sell the drugs, J&J said.

The new subpoenas arrived at J&J's corporate headquarters late last week, spokesman Bill Price said.

The company said it plans to cooperate in responding to the subpoenas.

Stock analysts said this doesn't appear to be a major issue for Johnson & Johnson.

'I think their legal people are saying, 'Let's error on the side of caution,'' and disclose the subpoenas, analyst Steve Brozak of WBB Securities said, 'in case this winds up being a lot bigger.'

Shares of the company, a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell 56 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $61.58 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

J&J posted Risperdal sales of $4.18 billion last year, an 18 percent increase from 2005. In November 2005, Janssen received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia seeking information about Risperdal marketing and adverse reactions to the drug.

That followed a January 2004 subpoena from the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management seeking documents on sales and marketing, plus any payments to doctors in connection to sales and marketing and clinical trials for the drug, J&J said in its recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange.

The company said Janssen is cooperating in responding to these subpoenas.

Janssen received a subpoena from the attorney general in California last September seeking documents on Risperdal's sales and marketing and side effects. J&J said in the SEC filing that Janssen is in the process of responding to that subpoena. Earlier last year, Janssen received a 'civil investigative demand' from the attorney general in Texas seeking documents on Risperdal sales and marketing, and Janssen is responding to that request as well.

Topamax sales were $2.03 billion last year, a 21 percent increase from 2005. Ortho-McNeil received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston in December 2003 seeking documents relating to the drug's marketing, including alleged 'off-label' marketing, J&J said in the SEC filing. Doctors often prescribe drugs for uses not described on Food and Drug Administration-approved labels, but pharmaceutical companies cannot market products for off-label usage.

Ortho-McNeil received a second subpoena for documents on Topamax in June 2006 and is cooperating in responding to the subpoenas, J&J said in the filing.

In July 2005, Scios received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston seeking documents regarding the sales and marketing of Natrecor, and Scios is responding to the subpoena, J&J said in the SEC filing. In August that year, the subsidiary was advised that the investigation would be handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco.

AP Business Writer Linda A. Johnson contributed from Trenton, N.J.