Big Pharma Wins Nexium Pay for Delay Class Action

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

A trial following a new Supreme Court ruling regarding the agreement between brand name pharmaceutical makers and their generic counterparts resulted in a win for Big Pharma after a jury ruled against a group of consumer and pharmacy plaintiffs in a Nexium pay for delay class action lawsuit.

The issue arises from alternative new drug applications, which drug makers file to sell the chemical equivalent of medications like Nexium, yet which come well before the end of the patent of the original drug. As a result, companies like Ranbaxy must decide whether or not to sue corporations like AstraZeneca that developed the popular heartburn medication or to eventually settle any patent litigation. However, Nexium pay for delay class action lawsuit plaintiffs alleged that the amount that AstraZeneca paid Ranbaxy to settle the patent case constituted anti-competitive practices.

The jury agreed that AstraZeneca had sole control over the sales and promotion of Nexium by itself or licensed to any other corporate entity, and also agreed with the plaintiffs that the payment made to Ranbaxy to delay the marketing of its Nexium generic was disproportionate. However, the jury found that AstraZeneca still would have fought to compel other companies to stay out of the generic market until patent protection on Nexium expired, according to the verdict in the class action lawsuit trial.

Even as the litigation swirled against AstraZeneca and Ranbaxy, the former made plans to ensure that with patent protections ending in May 2014 pursuant to the settlement agreement, that the company would still have the exclusive markets where it could sell its heartburn products.

The company began advertising a long-term mail order service just prior to May 2014, and customers who signed up would simply pay for delivery each month. Soon after, AstraZeneca was also able to obtain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a Nexium over the counter formulation. The company has spent tens of millions of dollars promoting this easy-to-access alternative for consumers.

AstraZeneca settled a separate Nexium antitrust class action lawsuit with Massachusetts consumers in 2013.

Class Members are represented by Steve D. Shadowen of Hilliard & Shadowen LLC, Kenneth A. Wexler of Wexler Wallace LLP, J. Douglas Richards of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Jayne A. Goldstein of Pomerantz Grossman Hufford Dahlstrom & Gross LLP.

The Nexium Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Nexium Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:12-cv-02409-WYG, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

UPDATE: A settlement has been reached to resolve a portion of this Nexium antitrust class action lawsuit. Details on the deal can be found here.