A judge in Delaware decided on Wednesday that Johnson & Johnson owes Auris Health's stockholders $1 billion in damages for breaking a 2019 contract to purchase the private robotics developer.

Following a trial spanning two weeks, Vice Chancellor Lori Will of the Court of Chancery determined that J&J had violated the terms of the merger agreement by neglecting to support the acquired iPlatform technology, which might have resulted in higher payments to Auris shareholders.

In addition to paying Auris stockholders an initial cash payment of $3.4 billion, J&J promised to pay up to an extra $2.35 billion in the event that certain acquisition-related objectives were fulfilled.

Will stated in her 145-page decision that J&J's assurance to Auris was violated practically right away upon close. The Monarch robotic platform from Auris was also acquired by the New Jersey-based healthcare conglomerate. Both devices were designed to identify and cure lung cancer.

The judgment stated that J&J pushed Auris to compete with its own Verb device instead of investing resources in the iPlatform device to meet regulatory milestones and give further dividends to Auris shareholders. J&J said it was going to file an appeal since it didn't agree with the decision.

The business claimed that the court's interpretation of its commercially reasonable contract effectively imposed an obligation that was not reasonable in the marketplace. J&J added that the decision had no effect on its ongoing robotics initiative.

In accordance with Will's decision, J&J claimed that technical problems with the Auris devices were the reason for the unmet milestone targets. She believed that Will disapproved of the company's claim that the acquisition agreement allowed it to use Auris' products in any way that improved J&J's larger robotics program.

J&J's stock was barely moved at midday, trading at $167.46.

According to court filings, investors included founder Dr. Fred Moll, Lux Capital Management, Mithril Capital Management (which held the largest portion), and Highland Capital Management. Additionally, J&J invested in Auris.