US: Pay-for-delay lawsuit settled for US$270m

Endo International Plc, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Teikoku Seijaku have agreed to pay a cumulative US$270.8 million to resolve class action lawsuits alleging Endo paid to delay launching a generic version of its Lidoderm painkiller patch.

Endo has agreed to pay a combined US$100 million to resolve claims brought by separate classes of direct purchasers of Lidoderm like retailers and so-called end payors for the medication like consumers and insurers.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, which owns Watsons’ generics business, has agreed to pay US$112 million while Teikoku Seiyaku Co, a Japanese drugmaker that manufactures Lidoderm for Endo to sell in the United States, will pay US$58.75 million, according to court papers.

The settlements are still subject to court approval.

Teva said in a statement it was “in the company’s best interest to resolve this matter and to focus on our mission of providing innovative and affordable medicines to people around the globe.”

The litigation centered on a settlement that was reached in 2012 after Endo and Teikoku sued Watson for patent infringement after it had applied to the Food and Drug Administration to market a generic version of the Lidoderm patch.

According to the lawsuit, as part of the May 2012 settlement, Watson agreed to delay launching its generic Lidoderm until September 2013, about two years before the patent expired.

The plaintiffs claimed that in exchange for delaying, Watson received US$96 million in free product and the promise that Endo would not release an authorized generic version of the drug until nearly eight months after Watson began selling its version.

Full Content: Reuters

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