J&J to pay $1 billion for Risperdal charges
pharmafile | January 9, 2012 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â J&J, JJ, Janssen, RisperdalÂ
Johnson & Johnson will pay more than $1 billion in the US to resolve a civil investigation into the marketing of its antipsychotic Risperdal.
This is according to Bloomberg who have been informed by people familiar with the matter.
Risperdal (risperidone) is an atypical antipsychotic used primarily to treat patients with schizophrenia.
The drug was approved for this licence in 1993 but the firm also sought to sell Risperdal for bipolar disorder, dementia, mood and anxiety disorders and other unapproved uses, according to legal documents.
Risperdal was later approved for some of these uses, including for bipolar disorder in 2003, but it was never approved for dementia.
The State Attorney General Greg Abbott says J&J’s Janssen unit paid state officials to get Risperdal on approved drug lists, marketed it for unapproved uses to children and the elderly, and lied about its safety and effectiveness.
The US government has been investigating Risperdal sales practices since 2004, including allegations the company marketed the drug for unapproved uses.
J&J and Janssen, which markets Risperdal, have been sued by 12 states, including Texas, South Carolina and Louisiana, over the marketing of the drug.
Hundreds of Janssen salespeople sold to doctors, nursing homes, Veteran’s Administration facilities and jails, according to documents in the Louisiana case.
The drug was once the firm’s best-selling drug, and enjoyed peak sales of $4.5 billion before losing its patent protection in 2008.
The firm said in August it had reached an agreement to settle a misdemeanor criminal charge related to Risperdal marketing.
The company is discussing paying about $400 million more to settle that portion of the investigation, one of the people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg.
Risperdal is in a class of drugs called atypical antipsychotics, which also include Lilly’s Zyprexa and AstraZeneca Seroquel.
These drugs have also landed Lilly and AstraZeneca in hot water, along with two other J&J competitors making these types of drugs.
The four firms have paid a total of $2.66 billion to resolve government marketing claims, including allegations that the companies pushed the drugs for unapproved uses.
Lilly paid more than $1.7 billion to resolve state and federal investigations over Zyprexa and AstraZeneca paid almost $590 million.
Ben Adams
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