Allergan and a group of drug distributors got the nod from a federal judge in Brooklyn for their US$51 million settlement of allegations that the company used bogus patents and sham litigation to delay generic competition for the dry-eye treatment Restasis, reported Bloomberg Law.
Judge Nina Gershon granted final approval to the agreement resolving proposed class action antitrust claims on behalf of “direct purchasers,” led by large wholesalers and retailers like Meijer.
The judge also approved US$16.4 million in attorneys’ fees and just shy of US$2 million in litigation costs for class counsel.
The antitrust suit accuses Allergan of “inundating” the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with bad faith “citizen petitions” challenging the safety of Restasis generics proposed by other drugmakers. After the FDA rejected the petitions, Allergan allegedly launched bogus lawsuits claiming its would-be competitors infringed patents it had intentionally mischaracterized to regulators.
