Healthy Skepticism Library item: 13189
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Publication type: news
Japsen B.
Abbott sued by 18 states
Chicago Tribune 2008 Mar 19
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-wed-abbott-suit-mar19,0,815390.story
Full text:
Tricor moves called antitrust violations
Attorneys general from 18 states filed a federal lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories on Tuesday, accusing the North Chicago-based drug giant of antitrust violations by thwarting efforts to bring cheaper versions of its cholesterol drug Tricor to market.
Abbott and two units of Solvay SA, which co-promotes the drug with Abbott, illegally blocked competition by creating new formulations of Tricor with only minor changes as a way to extend patents and prevent cheaper generic versions from coming to market, according to the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware. Tricor costs more than $3 a pill, compared with generics that can be one-third the cost or even less over time.
“We cannot permit drug companies to edge out competition and potentially less expensive generic alternatives,” said Florida Atty. Gen. Bill McCollum, who is leading the litigation on behalf of other attorneys general.
A spokeswoman for the Florida attorney general said Illinois is not a part of the suit, but McCollum staffers said they have been in discussion with officials from other states, including Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan’s staff, about joining the suit.
Tricor, one of Abbott’s top-selling drugs with $1.2 billion in sales last year, is a fenofibrate, which works to raise HDL, the so-called good cholesterol, while also reducing a form of fat in the bloodstream known as triglycerides.
Abbott denied the allegations in the lawsuit. “Abbott’s actions are lawful,” said spokeswoman Melissa Brotz. “We’ve not prevented other fenofibrate products from being marketed. In fact, there are eight other fenofibrate products available.”
Neil Hirsch, a spokesman for Solvay, told Bloomberg News the company “has not engaged in any wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend itself.” Abbott licenses the rights to Tricor from Fournier, which was acquired by Brussels-based Solvay in 2005.
The lawsuits mirror allegations made in lawsuits filed in the same Delaware court by Israel-based generic drug giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., which has been attempting to bring generic versions of Tricor to market.
A key issue in the case is Abbott’s move in 2004 to bring to market a new, dissolvable version of Tricor in 145- and 48-milligram doses. Abbott won Food and Drug Administration approval for the new pills and stopped selling branded 54-mg and 160-mg Tricor tablets. The branded Tricor tablets were a new formulation Abbott launched in 2001 that reduced the number of pills patients would have to take to one from three.
Abbott’s dissolvable version keeps Tricor under patent until 2018, in effect extending its exclusivity on the medication for another decade.
“With rising fuel costs, falling housing values and investment markets in turmoil, Floridians [50 and over] are facing tough economic pressures,” Lori Parham, AARP’s Florida director, said in a statement. “Using generic medications is an important tool in holding down runaway growth in prescription drug costs.”
In other news related to Abbott: The Japanese news organization Nikkei reported the company was close to a deal to sell its 50-percent stake in TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc. to the Lake Forest-based joint venture’s other half-owner, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. of Japan.
Abbott responded to the report by saying the company does not comment on “rumors.”
Such talks have been on and off again over the years. In the past, both sides were unable to come to terms on price. TAP’s major products are the prostate cancer drug Lupron and the heartburn drug Prevacid.
Bloomberg News contributed to this story.
