Judge approves Pfizer’s $345m EpiPen settlement
EpiPen buyers have secured final approval of a $345 million settlement with Pfizer in a consumer antitrust suit.
Judge Daniel Crabtree of the US District Court for the District of Kansas approved the settlement on Wednesday, November 17, awarding the consumers who claimed to have overpaid for the allergy treatment due to anti-competitive practices from Pfizer and the drug’s marketer Mylan.
As part of the settlement, law firms representing the class—Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, Keller Rohrback, Boies Schiller Flexner and The Lanier Law Firm—were awarded $115 million in fees.
The settlement only applies to Pfizer and does not resolve a separate suit between the class and Mylan.
This suit began following a public outcry over the “jarring” price hike of the treatment after Mylan acquired the EpiPen franchise.
According to the class-action complaint Mylan raised the price of EpiPens from $93.88 per two-pack in 2007 to $608.61 in 2016.
The original complaint claimed that the two pharma giants engaged in “deceptive practices” by “artificially restricting” the EpiPen expiration date to 12-months despite an estimated 27-month shelf life, as well as price-gouging.
Mylan, which is now part of Viatris, had most of the claims against it dismissed in a summary judgment motion handed down in June.
The only remaining claim against Mylan in this class action pertains to a patent settlement between Pfizer and Teva and other alleged actions regarding the launch of Teva's generic epinephrine auto-injector.
However, Mylan agreed to pay $465 million to settle related claims in an antitrust suit brought by the US Government in 2017.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox.
Already registered?
Login to your account
If you don't have a login or your access has expired, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content.
For more information on individual annual subscriptions for full paid access and corporate subscription options please contact us.
To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk