Shire US, Inc. v. Allergan, Inc. et al.
Date Filed: October 2, 2017Status: Pending
District Court: District of New Jersey – 2:17-CV-07716
Nature of Suit: Generic Competition Block or Delay; Antitrust
Defendant Type: Pharma
Plaintiff Type: Private
Court Document: https://www.bloomberglaw.com/document/X1Q6NTJ3ECO2/download?imagename=1-1.pdf
On October 2, 2017, Shire filed a complaint in New Jersey district court accusing Allergan of violating federal and state antitrust laws by improperly discounting various drugs in an attempt to keep Medicare beneficiaries from using Shire’s competing treatment for dry eyes. Allergan moved to dismiss in December 2017, asserting that the plaintiff did not meet the claim requirements of monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, by failing to define a “relevant market” that Allergan was monopolizing. Shire filed a brief in January 2018 in response to the motion to dismiss, blasting Allergan’s claim that Medicare Part D is not a distinct market. A ruling on the motion was expected back in February 2018, but the district court has granted Defendants’ stay for deposition discovery until the fall, but denied a stay for document discovery. See The Source blog post for more info.