JOHNSON & JOHNSON SUES BOSTON SCIENTIFIC, ABBOTT, GUIDANT FOR $5.5 BILLION

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has filed a suit seeking "no less than" $5.5 billion in damages from Boston Scientific, Abbott Laboratories and Guidant, alleging leaked confidential information led to Boston Scientific winning a bidding war to acquire Guidant.

"While Boston Scientific ultimately succeeded in its takeover bid for Guidant, it did so only because Guidant leaked confidential information to a third party -- Abbott," states the suit, filed Sept. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Abbott had agreed to license certain patents from J&J to resolve antitrust concerns related to the fact that if J&J and Guidant merged, they would own too large a share of the market for drug-eluting stents.

J&J was forced to abandon its bid to acquire Guidant after the heart devicemaker agreed to allow Boston Scientific to buy it for roughly $27 billion.

Abbott said the suit was "without merit." Officials at Boston Scientific and Guidant did not respond to a request for comment.