EpiPen maker to pay $264 million to settle lawsuit over price hikes

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Viatris Inc, formerly known as Mylan Inc, has agreed to pay a $264 million settlement over huge EpiPen price hikes.
• Consumers and insurers accused Mylan and Pfizer of engaging in an illegal scheme to monopolize the EpiPen market by hiking its price from $100 to $600.
• Last year, Pfizer paid a $345 million settlement for the same litigation.

Viatris Inc said Monday that it had agreed to pay $264 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging its engagement in a scheme to delay generic competition to its EpiPen allergy treatment. Viatris is formerly known as Mylan.

The proposed settlement would resolve litigation that began following public outrage in 2016 over Mylan’s decision to raise the list price for a pair of EpiPen to $600 from $100 in 2008, fueling a debate about rising U.S. drug costs.

The case was brought on behalf of consumers and third-party payers like insurers was slated to go on trial this month. The plaintiffs sought $1 billion in damages, a sum that under some state antitrust laws could be multiplied.

The lawsuit accused Mylan and Pfizer, which manufactured the EpiPen, of engaging in wide-ranging anticompetitive conduct that allowed them to maintain a monopoly over the market for the devices.

But U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Kansas City, Kansas, last year dismissed much of the case against Mylan. It only left a claim concerning a 2012 patent litigation settlement with generic drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Viatris said the settlement, which is pending court approval, does not contain any admission of liability.

The plaintiffs had alleged the defendants entered into an unlawful “pay-for-delay” settlement with Teva that resulted in the delayed release of a generic version of the EpiPen, allowing Mylan to raise its product’s price without fear of competition.

The plaintiffs alleged that Mylan as part of a “quid pro quo” agreed to similarly settle unrelated patent litigation involving a brand name drug Teva produced and delay the release of Mylan’s proposed generic version of that medication.

Teva and Pfizer denied wrongdoing. Pfizer agreed last year to settle for $345 million. Teva was not a defendant.

Separately, India’s Biocon Ltd on Monday announced a $3.34 billion deal for Viatris’ biosimilars business.

Source: NBC News