<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001214659-23-004067.txt : 20230322
<SEC-HEADER>0001214659-23-004067.hdr.sgml : 20230322
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20230321182213
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001214659-23-004067
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	PX14A6G
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20230322
DATE AS OF CHANGE:		20230321
EFFECTIVENESS DATE:		20230322

SUBJECT COMPANY:	

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			JOHNSON & JOHNSON
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000200406
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS [2834]
		IRS NUMBER:				221024240
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			NJ
		FISCAL YEAR END:			0101

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G
		SEC ACT:		1934 Act
		SEC FILE NUMBER:	001-03215
		FILM NUMBER:		23750801

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		ONE JOHNSON & JOHNSON PLZ
		CITY:			NEW BRUNSWICK
		STATE:			NJ
		ZIP:			08933
		BUSINESS PHONE:		732-524-2455

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		ONE JOHNSON & JOHNSON PLZ
		CITY:			NEW BRUNSWICK
		STATE:			NJ
		ZIP:			08933

FILED BY:		

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			Mercy Investment Services, Inc.
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0001699865
		IRS NUMBER:				263224636
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			MO
		FISCAL YEAR END:			0630

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		2039 NORTH GEYER ROAD
		CITY:			ST. LOUIS
		STATE:			MO
		ZIP:			63131
		BUSINESS PHONE:		314-909-4609

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		2039 NORTH GEYER ROAD
		CITY:			ST. LOUIS
		STATE:			MO
		ZIP:			63131
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>PX14A6G
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>b321231px14a6g.htm
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<P STYLE="margin: 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><B>Notice of Exempt Solicitation</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><B>&nbsp;</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><B>NAME OF REGISTRANT: </B>Johnson &amp; Johnson</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><B>NAME OF PERSON RELYING ON EXEMPTION: </B>Mercy
Investment Services</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><B>ADDRESS OF PERSON RELYING ON EXEMPTION: </B>2039
N Geyer Rd, St. Louis, MO 63131</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="background-color: white"><B>Written
materials are submitted pursuant to Rule 14a-6(g)(1) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934</B></FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">Dear Fellow Johnson &amp; Johnson Shareholder,</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in">We write to urge you to vote
<B>FOR Item 8</B>, &ldquo;Impact of Extended Patent Exclusivities on Product Access&rdquo; (the &ldquo;Proposal&rdquo;), at Johnson &amp;
Johnson&rsquo;s annual general meeting on April 27, 2023. The Proposal asks the Company to adopt and report on a policy (the &ldquo;Policy&rdquo;)
by which the impact on patient access to medicines is considered when deciding whether to apply for secondary or tertiary patents. <U>We
believe that the Policy would be beneficial to Johnson &amp; Johnson because extended exclusivity periods gained from secondary patents,
and the resulting delay in generic entry, limit patient access, create regulatory and reputational risk, and saddle the health care system
with unsustainable costs</U>.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in">Prescription drugs have assumed
an increasingly important role in American health care, and that trend is likely to continue: One study estimates that &ldquo;[p]rescription
drug spending on retail and non-retail drugs is poised to grow 63% from 2020 to 2030, reaching $917 billion dollars.&rdquo;<SUP>1</SUP>
Prescription drugs&mdash;and branded specialty medicines in particular&mdash;are costly in the U.S. The rise in spending on prescription
drugs outpaces increases in health care spending more generally,<SUP>2</SUP> and three in 10 Americans on a prescription drug report not
taking their medicine as prescribed due to cost.<SUP>3</SUP> A poll asking respondents to identify their top priority issue appearing
in the Build Back Better bill found that allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices topped the list.<SUP>4</SUP></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in">Federal law tries to strike
a balance between incentivizing innovation and promoting affordability. Obtaining a patent for a new drug gives the manufacturer a period
of exclusive marketing rights, generally for 20 years.<SUP>5</SUP> Once the patent expires, manufacturers are free to make generic versions
of the drug&mdash;or in the case of a biologic, a biosimilar version&mdash;which drives down prices.<SUP>6</SUP> An academic commentator
desc<FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">ribed the balance struck by this regulatory regime:</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 0.5in; text-align: left">On the one hand, originators play an important
role in developing new and improved medicines for the benefit of society. On the other hand, generic companies benefit society by supplying
cheaper equivalents of the originators&rsquo; medicines, which leads to the reduction of drug prices and facilitates access to affordable
medicines. When the interests of these two players are kept in balance, benefits are maximised for society, which receives innovative
and improved medicines, as well as timely access to generic drugs.<SUP>7</SUP></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">_____________________________</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><SUP>1</SUP></FONT>
<FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">https://www.i-mak.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Overpatented-Overpriced-2022-FINAL.pdf</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">,
at 2 (citing Charles Roehrig and Ani Turner, Projections of the Non-Retail Prescription Drug Share of National Health Expenditures Report,
Altarum, July 2022).</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>2</SUP> https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46221.pdf,
at 2.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>3</SUP> https://www.kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/public-opinion-on-prescription-drugs-and-their-prices/</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>4</SUP> https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/01/drug-price-negotiation-poll-harvard-514831</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>5</SUP> https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46221.pdf,
at 1.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><SUP>6</SUP></FONT>
<FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">https://www.fda.gov/files/drugs/published/Exclusivity-and-Generic-Drugs--What-Does-It-Mean-.pdf</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">;
</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6534750/</FONT>
<FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">(&ldquo;<FONT STYLE="background-color: white">Prices can drop
as much as 20% when the first generic enters the market; with multiple generics, the prices may eventually drop by 80&ndash;85%.&rdquo;)</FONT></FONT></P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>7</SUP> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7592140/</P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center">This communication is not a solicitation of proxy
authority and no proxy cards will be accepted. Vote your proxies in accordance with the Company&rsquo;s instructions.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in">We believe that balance is now
out of whack. Given the high prices their drugs command absent competition, branded drug makers have strong incentives to delay generic
competition as long as possible. One strategy they use is creating so-called &ldquo;patent thickets,&rdquo; numerous overlapping patents
on a drug filed after the primary patent has been granted and the drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (&ldquo;FDA&rdquo;)
that would be expensive and time-consuming for a potential generic manufacturer to challenge.<SUP>8</SUP> This strategy can allow branded
drug makers to hold off generic (or biosimilar, in the case of a biologic medicine) competition for several years or more.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in">These later-filed patents, which
are referred to as secondary and tertiary<SUP>9</SUP> patents, relate to properties of the drug other than the active ingredient, such
as methods of administration, manufacturing processes, dosing regimens, and additional indications.<SUP>10</SUP> Critics of the practice
argue that secondary patents tend to be low quality, as they are invalidated in litigation at a higher rate than primary patents, and
that they allow drug makers to benefit from extended exclusivity periods without engaging in additional innovation.<SUP>11</SUP> For example,
Johnson &amp; Johnson has filed for 76 patents on Stelara, 75% of which were filed after original FDA approval.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in"><U>Secondary patents have a significant
impact on health care spending, exacerbating inequalities in access to medicines and straining both public and private sector budgets</U>.
One study analyzed the 12 best-selling drugs, which had been on the market for an average of 15 years and found large numbers of secondary
patents providing an average exclusivity period of 38 years.<SUP>12</SUP> That study called patent abuse the &ldquo;root cause&rdquo;
of unsustainably high drug prices.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in">Another study by the same organization
found &ldquo;questionable &ndash; and likely unmerited&rdquo; secondary patents on three blockbuster drugs and estimated that the U.S.
healthcare system would bear approximately $55 billion in excess costs for those three drugs during the extended exclusivity periods facilitated
by the drugs&rsquo; secondary patents.<SUP>13</SUP> (Studies show that the introduction of generic versions of a drug lead to significantly
lower prices.<SUP>14</SUP>)</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">_____________________________</P>



<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>8</SUP> <U>See</U> ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7592140/(&ldquo;
The denser the web of secondary patents, the more difficult it is for generics to develop their generic equivalents, even if they know
that only a few patents of a large portfolio would, in fact, be valid and infringed by their products.&rdquo;); https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46221.pdf,
at 1-2.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>9</SUP> A secondary patent relates to &ldquo;<FONT STYLE="background-color: white">peripheral
features&rdquo; of a drug, while a </FONT>tertiary patent applies to a drug-device combination, such as the EpiPen. https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2018/04/30/tertiary-patents-an-emerging-phenomenon/</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>10</SUP> https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46221.pdf,
at 9.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>11</SUP> <FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><U>E.g.</U>,
Editorial Board, &ldquo;Save America&rsquo;s Patent System,&rdquo; The New York Times, Apr. 17, 2022<SUP>11</SUP> (&ldquo;<FONT STYLE="background-color: white">Twelve
of the drugs that Medicare spends the most on are protected by more than 600 patents in total, according to the committee. Many of those
patents contain little that's truly new. But the thickets they create have the potential to extend product monopolies for decades. In
so doing, they promise to add billions to the nation's soaring health care costs -- and to pharmaceutical coffers.&rdquo;); </FONT></FONT><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt; background-color: white">https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/25/high-drug-prices-caused-by-us-patent-system.html</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt; background-color: white">;
</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt; background-color: white">https://www.i-mak.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/I-MAK-Overpatented-Overpriced-Report.pdf</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt; background-color: white">;
</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">Robin Feldman, &ldquo;Our patent system is broken. And it could be stifling innovation,&rdquo; The
Washington Post, Aug. 8, 2021<SUP>11</SUP></FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>12</SUP> https://www.i-mak.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/I-MAK-Overpatented-Overpriced-Report.pdf</P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-variant: small-caps; background-color: white"><SUP>13</SUP></FONT>
https://www.i-mak.org/americas-overspend/</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-variant: small-caps; background-color: white"><SUP>14</SUP></FONT>
https://www.fda.gov/media/133509/download, at 2; https://www.fda.gov/media/161540/download, at 6; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34904207/;
https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/105th-congress-1997-1998/reports/pharm.pdf; https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57772</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center; background-color: white">We are not asking for
authority to vote your proxy and no proxy cards will be accepted. Please vote your proxy according to the instructions in Johnson &amp;
Johnson&rsquo;s proxy statement.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>


<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0.25in 0pt 0; text-align: justify"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in">The role of secondary and tertiary
patents in keeping prescription drug prices high has received increasing amounts of media and regulatory scrutiny. For example, the editorial
boards of <I>The New York Times<SUP>15</SUP></I> and <I>USA Today</I> published editorials decrying the proliferation of such patents
and their impact on the health care system. Patent thickets are often depicted as &lsquo;gaming&rdquo; or &ldquo;abusing&rdquo; the U.S.
patent system. <FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><SUP>16</SUP> For example, Johnson &amp; Johnson sells Remicade, a branded
biologic drug that treats inflammatory disorders. Although biosimilar competitors have now launched, Remicade has been cited as an example
of a patent thicket, with over 100 patents<SUP>17</SUP></FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: small-caps 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in"><FONT STYLE="font-variant: normal"><U>Rising
pressures to contain specialty drug costs, combined with a perception that branded drug firms are engaged in anti-competitive behavior,
could lead to increased regulation</U>. Indeed, President Biden issued an Executive Order (the &ldquo;E.O.&rdquo;) in 2021 directing the
Secretary of Health and Human Services to &ldquo;promote generic drug and biosimilar competition.&rdquo;<SUP>18</SUP> <FONT STYLE="background-color: white">Pursuant
to the E.O., the FDA and Patent and Trademark Office (&ldquo;PTO&rdquo;) are collaborating to implement strategies to lower drug prices.<SUP>19</SUP></FONT></FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>
<P STYLE="font: small-caps 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in"><FONT STYLE="font-variant: normal; background-color: white">The
relationship between extended exclusivity periods and high drug prices is addressed in several bills that have been introduced, as well
as in congressional hearings.<SUP>20</SUP> I</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-variant: normal">n June 2022, a bipartisan group of Senators wrote
to the director of the PTO about patent thickets. The letter stated: &ldquo;In the drug industry, with the most minor, even cosmetic,
tweaks to delivery mechanisms, dosages, and formulations, companies are able to obtain dozens or hundreds of patents for a single drug.
This practice impedes generic drugs&rsquo; production, hurts competition, and can even extend exclusivity beyond the congressionally mandated
patent term.&rdquo; It closed by asking the PTO to &ldquo;consider changes to your regulations and practices to address [overpatenting]
problems where they start, during examination.&rdquo;<SUP>21</SUP></FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-variant: small-caps">&nbsp;</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-variant: small-caps; background-color: white">_____________________________</FONT></P>


<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-variant: small-caps; background-color: white"><SUP>15</SUP></FONT>
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/16/opinion/patents-reform-drug-prices.html</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-variant: small-caps; background-color: white"><SUP>16</SUP></FONT>
<U>See</U>, <U>e.g.</U>, https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/consumer-group-says-drugmakers-abuse-us-patent-system-keep-prices-high-2022-09-16/;
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/12/perspectives/drug-patents-abuse/index.html;
https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-drugs-health-care-pharm-1024-20171023-story.html;
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/gaming-us-patent-system-keeping-drug-prices-sky-high-report-says-rcna47507</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-variant: small-caps; background-color: white"><SUP>17</SUP></FONT>
h<FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif">ttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-07/this-shield-of-patents-protects-the-world-s-best-selling-drug</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-variant: small-caps; background-color: white"><SUP>18</SUP></FONT>
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/07/09/executive-order-on-promoting-competition-in-the-american-economy/,
at section 5(p)(vi).</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-variant: small-caps; background-color: white"><SUP>19</SUP></FONT>
https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/PTO-FDA-nextsteps-7-6-2022.pdf</P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt"><SUP>20</SUP>
<U>See</U></FONT> <FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-cassidy-introduce-remedy-act-to-lower-drug-prices-by-curbing-patent-manipulation-promoting-generic-competition#:~:text=The%20REMEDY%20Act%20amends%20FDA,that%20delay%20generic%20market%20entry</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">;
</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2873</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">;
</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony%20-%20July%2013%202021_Rachel_Moodie.pdf</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">;
</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-judiciary-antitrust-subcommittee-to-hold-hearing-on-anticompetitive</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">;
</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">https://energycommerce.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/hearing-on-lowering-the-cost-of-prescription-drugs-reducing-barriers-to</FONT><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 10pt">;
https://www.finance.senate.gov/hearings/drug-pricing-in-america-a-prescription-for-change-part-i </FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>21</SUP> www.leahy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/20220608%20Letter%20to%20PTO%20on%20repetitive%20patents.pdf</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center; background-color: white">We are not asking for
authority to vote your proxy and no proxy cards will be accepted. Please vote your proxy according to the instructions in Johnson &amp;
Johnson&rsquo;s proxy statement.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in">Johnson &amp; Johnson argues
that secondary and tertiary patents are necessary to incentivize continued innovation related to a drug. But the Proposal does not seek
to prohibit the Company from applying for secondary and tertiary patents on its medicines, only for the impact on patient access to be
part of the mix of considerations. There is evidence that companies delay marketing an innovation on an existing drug by filing for secondary
patents strategically, close to the primary patent&rsquo;s expiration, in order to provide the longest exclusivity extension.<SUP>22</SUP>
This timing suggests that patient benefit is not always the sole motivation for such innovations on approved medicines.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in">Johnson &amp; Johnson has argued
that their overall performance in the Access to Medicine Index (the index) obviates the need for the Policy. While we applaud their ranking,
we note that the index does not examine secondary patenting practices at all, and therefore is unrelated to this proposal. Moreover, the
company touts that its donation programs reached nearly 94,000 patients in 2021 &ndash; however this does not promote affordability more
generally or sustainably, as the introduction of a generic drug would. Helping a relatively small number of patients does not address
systemic issues, such as the strain placed on the health care system by extended exclusivity periods and the societal impact of undertreatment
of disease, which can include lower labor force participation and productivity, increased social services costs, poorer patient quality
of life, and higher health care costs later on in a patient&rsquo;s life when the impact of undertreatment may be more difficult to remedy.<SUP>23</SUP></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in">More generally, reliance on patent
thickets may actually diminish branded drug manufacturers&rsquo; incentives to continue developing innovative medicines. If a manufacturer
can obtain a longer period of exclusivity for a top-selling drug, it has a reduced motivation to develop new drugs.<SUP>24</SUP> As one
academic study put it: &ldquo;<FONT STYLE="background-color: white">Rather than creating new medicines&mdash;sallying forth into new frontiers
for the benefit of society&mdash;drug companies are focusing their time and effort extending the patent life of old prod<FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">ucts.
This, of course, is not the innovation one would hope for. The greatest creativity at pharmaceutical companies should be in the lab, not
in the legal department.&rdquo;<SUP>25</SUP></FONT></FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in"><FONT STYLE="background-color: white">Finally,
the existence of disclosure on a company&rsquo;s pricing and/or access programs is sometimes held up as a reason the Proposal is unnecessary.
Disclosures, standing alone, are insufficient because they do not effect a change in policy like the one sought by the Proposal. The policy
change is the Proposal&rsquo;s core element, and the reporting component is designed to ensure that shareholders are apprised of Johnson
&amp; Johnson&rsquo;s adoption of the Policy.</FONT></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">_____________________________</P>


<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>22</SUP> <U>See</U> ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7592140/</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>23</SUP> <U>See</U>, <U>e.g</U>., https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Focus-on-Health-Making-Mental-Health-Count.pdf;
https://www.lse.ac.uk/business/consulting/assets/documents/the-value-of-early-diagnosis-and-treatment-in-parkinsons-disease.pdf;
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/health-care/economic-cost-of-health-disparities.html;
https://www.mathematica.org/news/new-study-uncovers-the-heavy-financial-toll-of-untreated-maternal-mental-health-conditions.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>24</SUP> ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7592140/</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>25</SUP> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6534750/</P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>
<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center; background-color: white">We are not asking for
authority to vote your proxy and no proxy cards will be accepted. Please vote your proxy according to the instructions in Johnson &amp;
Johnson&rsquo;s proxy statement.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in"><FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">We
recognize the value created by pharmaceutical innovation, and the Proposal would not limit in any way the Company&rsquo;s ability to obtain
so-called primary patents covering drugs&rsquo; active ingredients or require a particular outcome when the Company analyzes whether to
pursue secondary and tertiary patents. The Proposal simply asks </FONT>the C<FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">ompany to take the impact on
patient access into account when making decisions about applying for such patents. It would not impose a specific weighting for access
considerations, nor would it dictate how access should be measured. The Company would have total discretion over those and other details.
</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><B>We therefore urge shareholders to vote FOR Item
8. </B></P>



<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">For more information, please contact Lydia Kuykendal
at lkuykendal@mercyinvestments.org</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center; background-color: white">We are not asking for
authority to vote your proxy and no proxy cards will be accepted. Please vote your proxy according to the instructions in Johnson &amp;
Johnson&rsquo;s proxy statement.</P>


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