Complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief to prevent overcharges
and damages, and bring generic Gleevec to market
A class-action
lawsuit filed against Novartis alleges that the pharma company’s
patent infringement suit against generic company Sun Pharma was a sham,
and seeks a permanent injunction to prevent Novartis or Sun from
enforcing the terms of a settlement agreement that, barring relief, will
delay the launch of generic Gleevec for months, according to attorneys
at Hagens Berman.
According to Hagens Berman, the suit marks the first time purchasers of
prescription drugs have sought injunctive relief to try to prevent
antitrust overcharges or damages stemming from delayed launch of generic
drugs.
The lawsuit, filed June 22, 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the
district of Massachusetts, seeks to prevent Novartis’ unlawful delay of
generic Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), an FDA-approved prescription drug
that radically improves the lives of the thousands of patients suffering
chronic myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. The
drug’s compound patent expires on July 4, 2015, but Novartis unlawfully
barred generic maker Sun Pharma from releasing its generic version of
Gleevec for at least an additional seven months, according to the suit.
Two generic versions of the drug have already been tentatively approved
by the FDA.
“If Novartis played by the rules, a generic version of Gleevec would be
available for cancer patients this July, but Novartis wants to illegally
reap benefits from of its sham of a patent infringement suit,” said
Hagens Berman partner, Thomas M. Sobol. “Gleevec costs about $9,000 a
month and has appropriately grossed Novartis more than $13.5 billion in
U.S. sales. Now it’s time for it to fairly compete with generics.”
The suit calls Novartis’ efforts to delay generic Gleevec “patent
gamesmanship and frivolous litigation.”
The suit states that Novartis, “listed invalid follow-on patents in the
FDA’s Orange Book, frivolously sued (belatedly) first-inline generic Sun
for infringing one of those patents, and extracted from Sun a promise
not to launch its generic for seven extra months beyond the compound
patent’s expiration in the guise of settling the bogus infringement
lawsuit.”
The suit names two end payers as plaintiffs and has been filed on behalf
of a class of all purchasers of Gleevec.
Concerned purchasers who have paid for Gleevec can find out more
about the suit against Novartis. Gleevec purchasers can also contact
Hagens Berman’s pharma legal team by calling 617-482-3700 or by emailing Gleevec@hbsslaw.com.
About
Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is a consumer-rights class-action law
firm with offices in nine cities. The firm has been named to the
National Law Journal’s Plaintiffs’ Hot List eight times. More about the
law firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com.
Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.
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