Court Grants Class Certification, Denies Defendant Summary Judgement in Asacol Antitrust Lawsuit
On Thursday, November 9th, the Hon. Judge Denise J. Casper of the United States District Court District of Massachusetts issued an opinion granting the Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in the case of In re: Asacol Antitrust Litigation, Case No.: 1:15-cv-12730-DJC.
Judge Casper also denied the Defendants’ motion for summary judgement, defeating their claim that pulling its ulcerative colitis drug off the market shortly before patent expiration cannot be considered anti-competitive conduct.
Warner Chilcott, the Allergan subsidiary and manufacturer of Asacol, is accused of using an alleged unlawful anticompetitive “product hop” scheme to prevent a generic version of Asacol 400mg from reaching the market, thus preserving its monopoly profits on a “new” patent-protected drug—Delzicol.
Plaintiffs in this case are represented by Wexler Wallace LLP, Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP, Gustafson Gluek PLLC, and others.