US: Allergan beats Class Certification appeal

The union pension funds claiming Allergan delayed the rollout of generic Asacol will have to wait until the end of trial-level proceedings to challenge the denial of their renewed bid for class certification.

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected the petition for a mid-case appeal by the pension funds. Their antitrust lawsuit accuses Allergan of reaching “reverse payment” patent settlements with Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA and its parent Cadila Healthcare over Asacol, a colitis drug. The lawsuit also claims Allergan and Warner Chilcott engaged in “drug hopping.”

The original Asacol was a 400-milligram tablet that treated two digestive-tract ailments, colitis, and Crohn’s disease. It had been brought to market by Warner Chilcott, a company bought by Actavis 3 in 2013, and was its biggest drug, with sales of US$891 million in 2012. In the spring of 2013, just as the patent was about to expire, Warner Chilcott/Actavis discontinued Asacol and came out with Dezicol, followed by Asacol HD. They both had the same basic ingredient; the only difference was that Dezicol came in capsule form, while Asacol HD was an 800-milligram version.