The Supreme Court this morning denied review of FTC v. Schering, without comment.  The FTC had petitioned the Court to decide whether a "reverse payment" settlement from an innovator drug company to a generic drug maker in a Hatch-Waxman case violated the antitrust laws.  Denial by the Supreme Court leaves standing an Eleventh Circuit ruling…

The FTC last week filed a supplemental brief in the Supreme Court, in response to the Solicitor General’s brief, in FTC v. Schering.  The case involves the legality of "reverse payment" settlements–those from an innovator drug company to a generic drug company–in Hatch-Waxman cases.  The Solicitor General, whose views on the case were requested by…

Barr Labs announced today in a press release that it has paid $22.5 million to settle antitrust claims brought in 1998 by Invamed and Apothecon, both of which are subsidiaries of Sandoz.  The settlement comes on the same day that a trial in the case was scheduled to begin in the Southern District of New…

In an opinion released last Friday, Judge Kent A. Jordan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware denied Abbott’s motion to dismiss numerous antitrust claims in Abbott Labs et al. v. Teva Pharms. et al., No. 02-1512. The antitrust claims were originally brought by Teva and Impax as counterclaims in patent infringement…

The Solicitor General's recent recommendation to deny certiorari in FTC v. Schering seems to raise the likelihood that the Supreme Court will decline to hear the case.  If the Supreme Court denies cert, perhaps Congress should consider the policy issues at play.   In FTC v. Schering, the FTC is appealing an Eleventh Circuit decision…

In this antitrust case, In re Wellbutrin SR Antitrust Litigation, Nos. 04-5525, 04-5898, 05-396 (E.D. Pa.), three classes of plaintiffs, representing direct and indirect purchasers of Wellbutrin SR, as well as Medical Mutual of Ohio, a "third-party payor for Wellbutrin SR," sued GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for violating various state and federal antitrust laws.  The plaintiffs allege…

As Patently-O reported early this morning, the Solicitor General has filed an amicus brief in FTC v. Schering.  The Supreme Court, while considering whether to grant certiorari in the case, had asked for the views of the Solicitor General last fall.  The Solicitor General’s brief advises the Court not to grant the FTC’s cert petition.…

The Federal Trade Commission recently published the remarks of Commissioner Jon Leibowitz regarding trends in settlements of patent lawsuits between innovator and generic drug companies.  Commissioner Leibowitz made his remarks in a speech at the 2nd Annual In-House Counsel’s Forum on Pharmaceutical Antitrust, on April 24th in Philadelphia.  On the same day, the FTC released…