Judge Rejects Bayer's Bid to Halt Johnson & Johnson's Prostate Cancer Drug Advertising A U.S. judge has denied Bayer's request for an injunction against Johnson & Johnson, ruling that the company's advertising for its prostate cancer drug Erleada, which claimed a significant reduction in mortality risk, was not demonstrably false or misleading. Bayer had accused Johnson & Johnson of false advertising, citing concerns about study methodology and off-label use of its own drug, Nubeqa. The court found Johnson & Johnson's claims accurately represented its study's conclusions and that Bayer did not prove significant methodological errors. A United States judge has denied Bayer AG's bid to halt Johnson & Johnson's advertising campaign for its prostate cancer drug Erleada. Bayer had argued that Johnson & Johnson's claims of a 51 percent reduction in the risk of death for patients treated with Erleada compared to Bayer's Nubeqa constituted false advertising and would cause irreparable harm. U.S. District Judge Dale Ho in Manhattan, in a decision released Friday night, found that Bayer had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of its claims. The judge stated that Johnson & Johnson's campaign accurately reflected the conclusions of its study, and Bayer failed to identify significant methodological flaws that would render the claims materially false or misleading. The judge's 41-page ruling emphasized that the methodological choices made in the study were consistent with the practices of the relevant scientific community. Bayer had contended that Johnson & Johnson's comparison was unreliable because a majority of Nubeqa patients received the drug for off-label uses. Furthermore, Bayer argued that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had not approved Johnson & Johnson's retrospective, real-world analysis as a substitute for traditional clinical trials. Bayer's lawsuit, filed on February 23, accused Johnson & Johnson of making unsubstantiated claims based on testing that allegedly adhered to rigorous FDA standards. Despite the ruling, Bayer maintains its belief in the strength of its false advertising claims and anticipates a further court determination on the case's substance. Prostate cancer remains a significant health concern in the United States, with an estimated 313,780 men diagnosed and 35,770 deaths in 2025, according to the National Cancer Institute. The financial stakes are substantial, with Nubeqa sales reaching 2.39 billion euros (US$2.81 billion) in 2025, and Erleada generating $3.57 billion in sales during the same year. Bayer spokeswoman Sue Ann Pentecost indicated that the company remains committed to pursuing its case, looking forward to a full adjudication on the merits