Overview
On September 21, 2018, Judge William H. Orrick for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California granted final approval of a $104.75 million settlement a week before jury selection, representing one of the largest recoveries by end-payors in a federal generic suppression case in more than a decade.
Cohen Milstein serves as one of three court-appointed Co-Lead Counsel for the End-Payor Class (“EPPs”) in Lidoderm, a “pay-for-delay” generic suppression MDL.
Case Background
Consolidated in 2014, this multidistrict litigation involves claims from Lidoderm buyers that Teikoku Pharma USA Inc. and Endo International Plc reached an improper $266 million deal with Watson Pharmaceuticals, which is now owned by Allergan PLC, in underlying patent litigation to delay the launch of generic versions of the blockbuster anaesthetic. Purchasers of the drugs allege that the agreements constituted illegal “pay-for-delay” arrangements that violate competition law.
End-payor plaintiffs include employee health and welfare benefit plans, unions and individuals who purchased the drug from pharmacies, including third-party payors who may have provided Medicare Part D reimbursement for the price of Lidoderm.
On February 21, 2017, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick for the Northern District of California granted the End-Payor Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification. The class period for from the End-Payor Plaintiffs runs from August 23, 2012, through August 1, 2014.
In early November 2017, Judge Orrick denied summary judgment to Endo, Teikoku and Watson, ruling there was evidence to show that Watson could have prevailed in a patent infringement trial had the trio of companies not settled.
The case was set for trial in February 2018, but the parties reached resolution prior to the commencement of trial proceedings.
In July 2017, Law360 recognized In re: Lidoderm Antitrust Litigation, as one of the biggest competition cases of 2017.