Settlements Delaying Generic Drugs May Be Illegal, Justice Department Says

[marmar]

Drug Settlements May Be Illegal, U.S. Justice Department Says
By Susan Decker


July 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Justice Department said settlements in which makers of brand-name drugs pay to delay the introduction of generic competitors should be considered illegal in many cases.

The department, in a filing yesterday with the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York in a case involving Bayer AG and the anthrax treatment Cipro, said courts should presume that a “pay for delay” or “reverse payment” agreement is illegal and should force the drug companies to justify why the deal was reached.

The filing puts the Justice Department in line with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for the first time in opposing such settlements. Last month, the FTC said banning such reverse payment settlements could save American consumers $3.5 billion a year in drug costs.

“It’s a clear recognition these deals are presumptively illegal,” FTC Chairman Jonathan Leibowitz said in an interview. “That’s good news for American consumers who are paying inflated prices for much-needed drugs because of the sweetheart deals between the brand and generic companies.”

The appeals court is considering whether to allow a lawsuit that accuses Bayer AG and Barr Laboratories Inc. of using a $398 million patent settlement in 1997 to delay generic competition to Bayer’s Cipro anthrax treatment. A different appeals court upheld the agreement on patent grounds, and the Supreme Court last month refused to review that case. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=asN6arCrs5GY

[napi21]

1. It's about time! n/t

[whoneedstickets]

2. An interesting paper that details some of these 'deals'

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/3826768/Drug-Patent-Settlements-Between-Rivals-A-Survey-C-Scott-Hemphill

All of it is anti-competitive in terms of preventing or delaying generics from entering the market

[elehhhhna]

3. tWTHHappened to the enforcement of ANTI-TRUST LAW??? GEEZ!

[safeinOhio]

4. Great way to reduce the cost of health care would be

to shorten patent dates back to what they use to be. Talk about a windfall for big Pharma.

[juno jones]

5. YES!

After being slapped for $178 for a 25-y-o medicine which is not generic here but is not only available generic but OTC (and far cheaper) in Canada, I truly hope that the drugmakers are forced to allow generic forms of older drugs to be available here.

Bastards.