J&J expected to declare voting support for talc bankruptcy plan as early as Friday

J&J (NYSE:JNJ) is set to announce as early as Friday that 75% or more of claimants who allege that the company’s talc-based baby powder caused cancer voted in favor of the company’s bankruptcy strategy to settle the lawsuits, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The deadline for voting ended on July 26, and early this week, the company was still in the process of tabulating the claimants’ votes, one of them said.

However, the person added that JNJ is expected to receive the necessary backing for the move, allowing it to submit the settlement to a bankruptcy judge for approval.

The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based healthcare giant proposed its latest bankruptcy strategy to settle tens of thousands of talc-related lawsuits after the courts struck down its previous offers.

Under the plan proposed in May, the company agreed to pay ~$6.475B over 25 years to resolve the claims and file Chapter 11 bankruptcy for a specially created subsidiary to proceed with the offer.

However, unlike previous offers, the company gave the cancer claimants three months to vote for or against the plan before its implementation.