CHARLESTON — West Virginia has joined 45 other states seeking to expand an antitrust lawsuit to include 18 generic drug manufacturers and 15 generic drugs used to treat diabetes, heart and blood disorders, infections and other health conditions.
The states also are suing senior executives at two generic drug companies, including Rajiv Malik, the president and executive director of Mylan N.V., the parent company of Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
“Companies that do not comply with antitrust laws must be held accountable for their actions,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said. “Antitrust violations drive up prices for the consumer, and in this instance it impacts those in desperate need of prescription drugs.”
The expanded complaint alleges a number of agreements among the defendants to unlawfully fix prices for a number of generic drugs. The states further allege these conspiracies were part of a broader, overarching industry pattern of conduct that enabled the defendant manufacturers to divvy the market for specific generic drugs in accordance with an established, agreed-upon understanding for assigning each competitor their share of the market.
The new defendants are Actavis Holdco U.S. Inc.; Actavis Pharma Inc.; Ascend Laboratories LLC; Apotex Corp.; Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Inc.; Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd.; Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Lannett Company Inc.; Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc.; Sandoz Inc.; Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc.; and Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA) Inc., along with Satish Mehta, the chief executive officer and managing director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, which is the parent company of Heritage Pharmaceuticals.
The initial lawsuit, filed in July, accused six generic drug manufacturers of fixing prices and coordinating schemes through direct interaction with competitors among other assertions involving the drugs doxycycline hyclate delayed release and glyburide. Those sued were Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc.; Citron Pharma LLC; Mayne Pharma (USA) Inc.; Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.
All the initial defendants and drugs remain part of the expanded lawsuit.
New drugs involved in the case are Acetazolamide, Doxycycline monohydrate, Fosinopril-hydrochlorothiazide, Glipizide-metformin, Glyburide-metformin, Leflunomide, Meprobamate, Nimodipine, Nystatin, Paromomycin, Theophylline, Verapamil and Zoledronic acid.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 16-AG-27240