AstraZeneca and Ranbaxy win ‘pay-for-delay’ case
A US court has spared drug companies AstraZeneca and Ranbaxy Laboratories a potentially hefty fine after ruling that a ‘pay-for-delay’ deal between them did not violate antitrust grounds.
The lawsuit was brought by a group of direct and indirect purchasers of AstraZeneca’s Nexium (esomeprazole) heartburn drug after a 2008 settlement it made with Ranbaxy.
The plaintiffs claimed the deal saw AstraZeneca pay Ranbaxy nearly $1 billion to delay the launch of the Indian company’s generic version of the drug until 2014.
They sued on antitrust grounds by claiming that drug stores and patients alike had been overcharged by billions of dollars since the agreement.
But, in a decision at the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Friday (December 5), a jury said that although the figure was large and unjustified, the payment was not unreasonably anticompetitive.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said it was pleased with the jury’s verdict.
It added: “The company has always maintained that the plaintiffs’ allegations were without merit.”
Ranbaxy said in a statement that it is “pleased with this verdict, and is committed to serving patients, prescribers and the US healthcare system”.
The so called pay-for-delay system enables a brand name drug maker to settle with a generic company in exchange for ending patent litigation, and an agreement that allows a generic version to be launched at a later date.
The ruling was eagerly anticipated after a 2013 US Supreme Court decision in a case between the Federal Trade Commission and drug maker Actavis that said regulators may challenge pay-for-delay arrangements.
Just a few months after that decision, LSIPR reported that AstraZeneca’s attempts to dismiss the Nexium lawsuit brought against it had been dismissed.
