Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Purchase Of Technology Firm, J&J Continues Push Into Surgical Robotics Field
The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson To Buy Surgical Robotics Maker
Johnson & Johnson ’s Ethicon unit has reached a deal to buy medical technology firm Auris Health Inc. for about $3.4 billion in cash, expanding J&J’s push into the use of robotic technology for medical procedures and surgery. J&J said Wednesday that Auris’s technology will help it develop a digital solution addressing different parts of patients’ lung-cancer treatment. If certain milestones are reached, Auris could also receive as much as $2.35 billion more in the deal. (Prang and Loftus, 2/13)
Bloomberg: Case Of Mistaken Identity Sends Auris Medical Shares Soaring 30%
Auris Medical Holding AG got a surprise boost to its stock price Wednesday as investors mistakenly bought shares of the drug developer after Johnson & Johnson agreed to buy a similarly named robotics company for $3.4 billion. Auris Medical rose 9.4 percent at 10:40 a.m. in New York after earlier rising as much as 30 percent. The last time the stock rose more than that was Jan. 23, when Bloomberg News first said that J&J was pursuing an acquisition of closely held Auris Health Inc. (Flanagan, 2/13)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Hospital Owner Columbia Pacific Starts Sale Of Asia Business
Columbia Pacific Management Inc. is trying to sell a collection of hospitals in Asia for close to $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The Seattle-based owner of hospitals and health-care facilities in the U.S. and around the world recently started a formal sale process for its Columbia Asia business, the people said. The first round of bids is due by the end of March, they added. Morgan Stanley is advising Columbia Pacific. (Venkat, 2/14)
Bloomberg: Imerys Talc Units File Bankruptcy As Cancer-Suit Risk Soars
Imerys Talc America Inc., which supplies talc for products including Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder, filed for bankruptcy protection in an effort to end nearly a decade’s worth of lawsuits claiming its product causes cancer. The unit of Paris-based Imerys SA and two other subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware Wednesday, citing the more than 14,000 claims the company faces in U.S. courts. Most have been brought by women alleging Imerys’s talc caused their ovarian cancer. Others say they have mesothelioma, brought on by asbestos in the talc. (Feeley, Fisk and Church, 2/13)
Bloomberg: Roundup Attacks Gut Bacteria In People, Pets: Lawsuit
Monsanto Co. has been sued by thousands of farmers and others who blame their cancers on its massively popular Roundup weedkiller. Now Germany’s Bayer AG, which bought the agriculture giant last year, faces a claim that it deceived home gardeners about Roundup’s impact on their gut bacteria and their health. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Kansas City, Missouri, claims that labels on products such as Roundup’s Weed & Grass Killer falsely assured consumers that they target an enzyme not found “in people or pets.” (Mulvany and Shanker, 2/13)
