Sun Pharma Wins US Antitrust Case Over Cholesterol Drug Lipitor
New Delhi: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited and some of its subsidiaries have won a major legal victory in the US after the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling in their favour in an antitrust case involving a 2008 patent settlement with Pfizer over generic Lipitor (atorvastatin).
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited and certain of its subsidiaries have been defendants in antitrust litigation in the United States relating to a 2008 patent litigation settlement agreement with Pfizer concerning generic Lipitor (Atorvastatin).
The litigation arose from allegations by plaintiffs that the settlement agreement unlawfully delayed the entry of generic competition for Lipitor, and that, in the absence of the allegedly unlawful settlement, generic Lipitor would have entered the US market earlier than it ultimately did.
The matter had been disclosed by Sun Pharma from time to time in the company’s financial statements.
The US District Court had earlier granted summary judgment in its entirety in favour of Sun Pharma and its subsidiaries. The plaintiffs subsequently challenged the decision before the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
The Appellate Court has now affirmed the District Court’s order granting summary judgment in full in favour of the company and its subsidiaries. The Third Circuit also affirmed the District Court’s orders denying class certification sought by the plaintiffs.
The appellate ruling represents a significant favourable development for Sun Pharma and its subsidiaries, as it upholds the lower court’s complete decision in their favour and substantially brings the long-running litigation to a close.
The dispute centred on the 2008 settlement between Sun Pharma-related entities and Pfizer in connection with patent litigation involving Lipitor (atorvastatin), a widely used cholesterol-lowering medicine. The plaintiffs had argued that the settlement had the effect of postponing generic competition and consequently kept generic Lipitor from entering the market earlier.
With the Third Circuit affirming both the summary judgment and the denial of class certification, Sun Pharma has obtained a strong outcome in the antitrust proceedings.
However, the company has clarified that the litigation is substantially, rather than absolutely, concluded, as the plaintiffs may still have any further remedies available to them under applicable law.
The appellate decision therefore marks an important favourable development for Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited and its concerned subsidiaries, reinforcing the lower court’s ruling and significantly reducing the remaining scope of the US antitrust litigation related to the Lipitor patent settlement.
