Brands
Bayer sues Johnson & Johnson over prostate cancer drug advertisements
Legal dispute begins as Bayer claims rival marketing is based on flawed data
NEW YORK: Bayer has filed a federal lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in New York, alleging that the American pharmaceutical company has used false and misleading advertisements to promote its prostate cancer treatment, Erleada. The dispute centres on claims that Erleada is significantly more effective than Bayer’s competing drug, Nubeqa.
The legal action follows a J&J marketing campaign that cited a 51 per cent reduction in the risk of death for patients using Erleada compared to those on Nubeqa. Bayer contends that these figures are based on a study with severe methodological errors rather than a controlled clinical trial.
Bayer’s legal team argues that J&J’s real-world analysis is fundamentally flawed. According to the complaint, J&J claimed to have 24 months of patient data supporting its conclusions, even though many patients included in the study had reportedly been on the medication for only a few months, raising concerns about the reliability of long-term survival comparisons.
The lawsuit also highlights what Bayer describes as a critical approval gap. For most of the period analysed in J&J’s study, Nubeqa had not yet been approved for the specific indication being evaluated, which Bayer argues makes a direct clinical comparison inappropriate and potentially misleading.
Additionally, Bayer contends that the study suffered from significant sample imbalance. The analysis reportedly included five times as many Erleada patients as Nubeqa patients, a disparity that Bayer says introduced statistical bias and undermined the validity of the findings.
Bayer is pursuing the case under the Lanham Act, the U.S. law governing false advertising and unfair competition. The company is seeking an immediate halt to J&J’s current marketing campaign and is asking the court to require corrective statements to physicians to address what it characterises as inaccurate claims.
Furthermore, Bayer is seeking monetary damages, arguing that the alleged misleading advertisements have resulted in lost revenue and reputational harm to Nubeqa.
Johnson & Johnson has responded by stating that it stands by the integrity of its data and the rigour of its analysis. The case will now proceed through the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Brands
Lululemon picks former Nike executive to be its next chief
Heidi O’Neill, who helped grow Nike into a $45 billion giant, will take the top job in September
CANADA: Lululemon has found its next chief executive, and she comes with serious credentials. The athleisure giant named Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO on Wednesday, ending a search that has left the company running on interim leadership since earlier this year. O’Neill will take charge on September 8, 2026, based out of Vancouver, and will join the board on the same day.
O’Neill brings more than three decades of experience across performance apparel, footwear and sport. The bulk of that time was spent at Nike, where she was a central figure in one of corporate sport’s great growth stories, helping take the company from a $9 billion business to a $45 billion global powerhouse. She oversaw product pipelines, brand strategy and consumer connections, and played a significant role in shaping how Nike spoke to athletes around the world. Earlier in her career, she worked in marketing for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss. She also brings boardroom experience from Spotify Technology, Hyatt Hotels and Lithia and Driveway.
The board was unequivocal in its enthusiasm. “We selected Heidi because of the breadth of her experience, her demonstrated success delivering breakthrough ideas and initiatives at scale, and her ability to be a knowledgeable change and growth agent,” said Marti Morfitt, executive chair of Lululemon’s board.
O’Neill, for her part, was bullish. “Lululemon is an iconic brand with something rare: genuine guest love, a product ethos rooted in innovation, and a global platform still in the early stages of its potential,” she said. “My job will be to accelerate product breakthroughs, deepen the brand’s cultural relevance, and unlock growth in markets around the world.”
Until she arrives, Meghan Frank and André Maestrini will continue as interim co-CEOs, before returning to their previous senior leadership roles once O’Neill steps in.
Lululemon is betting that a Nike veteran who helped build one of the world’s most powerful sports brands can do something similar for an athleisure label that has genuine love from its customers but is still chasing its full global potential. O’Neill has done it before at scale. The question now is whether she can do it again.
