AZ triumphs in Nexium pay-for-delay trial
pharmafile | December 8, 2014 | News story | Sales and Marketing | AstraZeneca, Dr Reddy's, Nexium, Ranbaxy, dr reddys, esomeprazole
AstraZeneca and Ranbaxy have avoided what might have been a $10 billion pay out regarding delays to the generic version of Nexium (esomeprazole) after a US jury reached a verdict in their favour.
The companies were accused of violating US antitrust laws relating to their 2008 ‘pay-for-delay’ agreement to postpone the launch of a universal version of the heartburn drug.
In a six-week long trial the Boston court found that assertions made my numerous purchaser groups claiming they were overcharged for AZ’s Nexium were dismissed as ‘unreasonably anticompetitive’.
“The jury got it right. The system works,” says Douglas Baldridge, a lawyer representing Ranbaxy. He adds: “the drug buyer groups were living in a fantasy world during the trial. No company could have produced generic Nexium sooner because none of the generics makers had FDA approval.”
This was the first hearing of this kind regarding such agreements since the US Supreme Court ruled against them last year.
Indeed deals in which generic drugmakers drop patent challenges and hold off on producing cheaper versions in exchange for cash – costs consumers $3.5 billion each year according to the US Federal Trade Commission.
The plaintiffs claim Ranbaxy received almost $1 billion during the settlement made in 2008 to delay the launch of its own generic Nexium treatment, which was launched in Europe in 2000 and in 2001 in the US.
Two other drugmakers Teva and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories also reached similar deals with AZ regarding the heartburn tablet, but both settled with the claimants.
Generic competition in the UK
Earlier this year Ranbaxy was expected to finally launch its own form of the drug in the US but due to ongoing disputes with the FDA regarding manufacturing issues, AZ’s Nexium is still the only one on the US market.
In the UK however, the Indian generic drug specialist launched its own version of the anti-ulcer and heartburn treatment in 2011.
Ranbaxy has also provided some of AZ’s US supply of Nexium from May 2010, and has been manufacturing some esomeprazole magnesium from May 2009.
AstraZeneca says it is “pleased with the jury’s verdict,” and the firm has always maintained that the plaintiffs’ allegations were without merit.
Tom Robinson
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