Pfizer agrees to pay $93M to settle Lipitor antitrust lawsuit
Pfizer agrees to pay $93M to settle Lipitor antitrust lawsuit
Feb 14 (Reuters) – Pfizer (PFE.N) has agreed to pay $93 million to settle antitrust claims by wholesale drug distributors that accused it of conspiring with India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories to delay sales of less expensive, generic versions of the cholesterol drug Lipitor.
Attorneys for Lipitor purchasers including Rochester Drug Co-Operative Inc. and Puerto Rico’s Drogueria Betances LLC disclosed the agreement in a filing on Wednesday in U.S. court in Trenton, New Jersey.
The distributors’ case will continue against Ranbaxy, the attorneys filing said.
The proposed settlement, which requires a judge’s approval, comes after more than a decade of litigation. Pfizer did not admit liability.
Pfizer in a statement called the allegations “factually and legally without merit.” It said the settlement was “fair, reasonable and the best way to resolve this litigation.”
A representative for Sun Pharma, which acquired Ranbaxy in 2014, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
