Judge rules J&J owes Auris $1 billion related to 2019 robotic deal

By Tom Hals

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) -A Delaware judge ruled on Wednesday that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ ) owed Auris Health Inc $1 billion in damages for breaching a 2019 agreement to acquire the private company's robot technology.

Vice Chancellor Lori Will of the Court of Chancery found after a trial that J&J had breached a merger agreement to acquire two robotics platforms.

The global healthcare conglomerate breached the agreement by failing to treat the acquired iPlatform product as a priority device and preventing iPlatform from reaching goals that could have earned up to $2.35 billion for the selling shareholders of Auris, Will ruled.



J&J had paid $3.4 billion up front, according to Will's opinion.

J&J also acquired Auris's Monarch robotic platform and the pair were developed to diagnose and treat lung cancer.

Source: Investing.com