New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson and three of the country’s largest drug distributors have agreed to finalize a settlement over thousands of opioid lawsuits. The $26 billion settlement resolves lawsuits from state and local governments, which claimed the companies played a role in fueling the opioid epidemic. Johnson & Johnson, which no longer sells prescription opioids, will pay $5 billion. The rest will be paid by the drug distributors — AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson. The money from the settlement will go to communities to help them deal with the epidemic.

Meantime, reports say a bankruptcy judge will allow a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary to remain in bankruptcy, which prevents plaintiffs from pursuing 38,000 lawsuits against the company, lawsuits that allege Johnson & Johnson’s baby-powder products cause cancer. The company placed the unit — LTL Management — into bankruptcy to settle those claims rather than litigating them individually. Plaintiffs argued that was an abuse of the bankruptcy system. Johnson & Johnson has maintained that its products are not linked to cancer.

There has been an overwhelming response to the Biden administration’s auction of offshore wind development rights off the coasts of New Jersey and New York. The federal government is offering six leases in the largest U.S. offshore wind auction ever. The auction began Wednesday, and by Thursday developers had bid more than $3 billion. The auction resumed Friday morning.

There’s an upbeat report on New Jersey’s economy from Choose New Jersey, the nonprofit economic development organization. In its annual report, Choose New Jersey said it assisted 32 companies in relocating to or expanding in the state last year.