The past year has continued to see an increase in US case law developments in the area of pharmaceutical antitrust. This article focuses on the three types of pharmaceutical antitrust cases that have been most active:
- US trial court and appellate court decisions adjudicating antitrust claims under the rule of reason test announced by the US Supreme Court in Federal Trade Commission v Actavis for innovator and generic settlements of pharmaceutical patent litigation involving alleged reverse payments or pay-for-delay;
- so-called product-hopping antitrust claims against innovator pharmaceutical companies that introduce new versions of brand-name drugs facing generic competition; and
- challenges to pharmaceutical manufacturers’ pricing practices.