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Cigna Sues Bristol Myers Squibb Over Alleged Monopoly on Cancer Drug Pomalyst

By  |  June 24, 2025

Health insurance giant Cigna has filed a federal lawsuit against pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb, accusing the drugmaker of engaging in illegal practices to preserve its monopoly on the blood cancer treatment Pomalyst, according to Reuters.

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    In a complaint submitted Tuesday to the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Cigna alleges that Bristol Myers’ subsidiary, Celgene, used a series of anti-competitive strategies to block generic competition for Pomalyst, a drug used in the treatment of multiple myeloma. Among the claims are accusations that Celgene launched “sham” patent infringement lawsuits and paid off generic drug manufacturers to abandon their legal efforts to introduce lower-cost alternatives.

    Per Reuters, Cigna also contends that Celgene withheld key information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including the existence of a separate patent filed by a Boston physician for using pomalidomide — the chemical name for Pomalyst — in the treatment of multiple myeloma. The insurer alleges this misrepresentation allowed Celgene to claim unexpected positive results during testing, thereby fraudulently strengthening its patent protections.

    Read more: Bristol Myers Squibb Settles Israel Antitrust Case for $2.7 Million

    By “willfully maintaining monopoly power” over both brand-name and generic versions of Pomalyst, the lawsuit states, Bristol Myers caused insurers and other drug purchasers to pay “many hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars” more than they would have in a competitive market.

    Cigna, headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut, is seeking triple damages, though the specific amount has not been disclosed.

    This legal action comes on the heels of a recent decision involving similar accusations. Roughly three months ago, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos dismissed a class-action suit led by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, ruling that plaintiffs in that case had not adequately demonstrated fraud in Celgene’s patent process or shown that the lawsuits against generic competitors were baseless, as reported by Reuters.

    Bristol Myers Squibb, based in Princeton, New Jersey, has yet to comment publicly on the new lawsuit.

    Sales of Pomalyst — also marketed internationally under the brand name Imnovid — reached $2.7 billion in the U.S. last year, with an additional $537 million generated in the first quarter of 2025, according to company data cited by Reuters.

    Multiple myeloma, the disease targeted by Pomalyst, is a blood cancer affecting plasma cells in the bone marrow.

    Source: Reuters