Another Drug Discounting Monopolization Case

Eisai, Inc. has filed an antitrust case in the District of New Jersey alleging that Sanofi-Aventis violated the antitrust laws by offering a discount program pegged to the percentage of the purchaser’s anti-coagulant drug needs that are fulfilled by Sanofi-Aventis drugs.  The complaint alleges that the largest discounts require customers to purchase 90% of their need from Sanofi-Aventis, and those purchasing less than 75% of their needs can receive only a 1% discount.  Cases attacking discounting packages — requiring the customer to purchase more than one drug in order to obtain the disount — for excluding competition have proven successful in the past.  This case, by contrast, appears to attack a percentage-of-requirements discount policy that does not necessarily tie the purchase of separate drugs to the discount.  It will be interesting to see how the court assesses the differing postures of the two types of cases.

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