Allergan Pays To Resolve Restasis Antitrust Claims

Allergan has agreed to pay nearly US$51.3 million to resolve allegations that the drugmaker violated antitrust laws by improperly trying to delay US regulatory approval of generic competitors for its dry-eye medication Restasis, reported Reuters. 

The proposed class action settlement was disclosed in a filing on Tuesday, February 25, in federal court in Brooklyn and would resolve claims by direct purchasers of Restasis such as wholesalers who claimed Allergan’s actions led them to be overcharged for the drug.

Shire filed an antitrust suit against Allergan, alleging Allergan’s contracts with Medicare Part D drug plans for its Restasis eye drops effectively blocked access to Shire’s rival drug.

The complaint, filed Monday, October 2, in federal court in Trenton, NJ, stated Shire offered steep discounts in bids to secure insurance coverage of the company’s dry-eye drug Xiidra but the Part D plans refused, due to Allergan’s “bundled discounts, exclusive dealing” and other tactics.

“There was not a level playing field for us to compete” in Part D, John Neeley, Shire’s head of US pricing and market access, said in an interview. Some 13% of Part D patients have access to Xiidra on their drug formularies, compared with about 88% of commercially insured patients, a Shire spokeswoman stated then.

Full Content: Reuters

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