Hagens Berman represented a nationwide class of direct purchasers in this class-action lawsuit filed against Ranbaxy. The lawsuit accused the drug maker of deceiving the FDA and stalling generic competition. The case settled in 2022 as part of a $340 million settlement.
Hagens Berman represented Meijer Inc. and Meijer Distribution Inc. in a class-action lawsuit filed against drug maker, Ranbaxy, accusing the pharma company of recklessly stuffing the generic drug approval queues with grossly inadequate applications, deceiving the FDA into granting tentative approvals to lock in statutory exclusivities to which Ranbaxy was not entitled and brandishing these undeserved exclusivities to exclude others while its own applications floundered, all at the direct expense of U.S. drug purchasers. Hagens Berman then sought to represent a nationwide class of direct purchasers who suffered from defendants’ fraudulent and anticompetitive conduct that delayed the entry of generic drugs into the U.S. market.
The suit further accused Ranbaxy of recklessly and fraudulently bogging down the FDA generic approval process, wrongfully acquiring the ability to preclude or stall the efforts of other generic companies that are responsibly seeking to enter U.S. markets and delaying generic entry while it struggled to get its own act together.
According to the complaint, Meijer suffered and continued to suffer antitrust injury as a result of defendants’ unlawful conduct. In June 2016, Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley recommended that the defendants’ bid to dismiss the complaint be denied. In September 2016 Judge Gorton adopted that recommendation over the defendants’ objections. The case then moved to the discovery phase.
CASE TIMELINE
Judge Nathanial M. Gorton of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued an order granting final approval of the $485 million global settlement on Sept. 19, 2022.
On Apr. 28, 2022, Hon. Nathaniel M. Gorton for the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts granted preliminary approval of a $340 million settlement on behalf direct purchasers of Diovan, Valcyte, Nexium or their AB-rated generic versions from any brand or generic manufacturer. The settlement is part of a $485 million total settlement for all plaintiffs in the case, In Re: Ranbaxy Generic Drug Application Antitrust Litigation.
United States District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton denied all motions for summary judgment in a lawsuit against Sun Pharmaceutical Industries LTD and Ranbaxy Inc., accusing the drug makers of violating racketeering and antitrust laws and affecting the costs of three blockbuster drugs – generic versions of Valcyte, Diovan and Nexium – leaving Ranbaxy facing liability in the billions, even before automatic trebling, according to the complaint.
Magistrate Judge Kelley recommended that Ranbaxy and Sun’s motion to dismiss the purchasers’ RICO and antitrust claims be denied. more »
The court held argument on the motion to dismiss. Supplemental briefs are due on Apr. 11, 2016.
