Court Upholds Jury Verdict Finding Petition in Opposition to Generic Drugs Baseless

In Louisiana Drug Co. Inc. v. Sanofi-Aventis et al., Southern District of New York Judge Harold Baer Jr.refused to overturn a jury verdict or grant Louisiana Wholesale Drug Co. Inc. a new trial in an antitrust class action filed by the drug wholesaler.  The case accused Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC of submitting a sham citizen petition to delay release of generic versions of an arthritis drug.  The antitrust suit was filed by Louisiana Wholesaler after Sanofi filed a citizen petition in response to five generic-drug makers’ new drug applications for Sanofi’s arthritis drug Arava.  The petition was based on Sanofi’s concerns over how the companies were dosing the medication.   However, according to Louisiana Wholesaler, Sanofi had willfully filed the petition to block the manufacture of generic versions of the drug and to maintain its monopoly power over the drug.  During the trial, Sanofi presented evidence that its dosing concerns were not addressed by the FDA and that the FDA even took some of Sanofi’s dosing suggestions.  In denying Louisiana Wholesale’s motion, Judge Baer held that the evidence presented by Sanofi was sufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude that the citizen petition was not objectively baseless. 

 

 

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