Judge OKs $75M Sun, Taro Pharma generic drug price-fixing settlement

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Update:

• A Pennsylvania federal judge signed off a settlement to end price-fixing claims from direct purchasers against Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. and Taro Pharmaceutical Industries USA Inc.
• On March 9, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe approved the $75 million settlement agreement, $10 million less than the pre-approved $85 million to adjust for direct buyers that chose not to settle.
• The final amount may increase by $20 million for the proposed settlement class if Taro and Sun enter into a more favorable agreement with direct purchasers who opt out of the deal.
• Each of the four class representatives will receive a $20,000 service award and up to $250,000 for reasonable expenses.
• Because of the litigation’s complexity, Judge Rufe wrote in her ruling that 700 individual actions did not seem appropriate and “class action is therefore superior to other forms of adjudication.”

Sun Pharma price-fixing class action settlement overview: 

• Who: Taro USA and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. have agreed to a proposed $85 million settlement.
• Why: The companies are accused of price-fixing generic drugs.
• Where: The class action settlement is pending in Pennsylvania federal court.

(Nov. 9, 2021)

Two U.S. subsidiaries of Indian drugmaker Sun Pharma have agreed to a combined $85 million settlement with a proposed class of direct purchaser plaintiffs in an alleged price-fixing scheme, according to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. entered into a $67 million settlement in a consolidated antitrust class action agreement with César Castillo, LLC, FWK Holdings, LLC, Rochester Drug Cooperative, Inc. and KPH Healthcare Services, Inc., on behalf of themselves and the putative Class of all direct purchasers of certain generic pharmaceutical products, the SEC states. 

Meanwhile, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. has also entered into a settlement with the same class, according to The New Indian Express. That disclosure was made in another regulatory filing noting that the pair of subsidiaries would be paying a total of $85 million to resolve the litigation, the Express reported.

The settlement agreements are subject to court approval. If approved, there is a period of time during which class members will be notified of the settlement and given an opportunity to opt out of the class, object to the settlement or file a claim to receive a settlement payment. Then the court will schedule a fairness hearing at which time the parties will request final approval of the settlements. At this time, the settlement will be effective to all class members who do not opt out of the class, regardless of whether they filed a claim form and received a payment.

“The full amount of the payments under the settlement agreements have already been provided for in Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd’s prior consolidated financial results. The settlement agreements were entered into without admission of any wrongdoing in the Direct Purchaser Action,” it added.

Did you purchase any of the drugs affected by the settlement? Tell us in the comment section below!

The plaintiffs are represented by Michael L. Roberts, Karen Halbert and Stephanie Smith of Roberts Law Firm PA.

The Sun Pharma price-fixing class action lawsuit is In re: Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 2:16-md-02724, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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