FTC Challenges "No-AG" Agreement as Illegal Reverse Payment (Cooley LLP)

(Source: Cooley LLP) 04/06/2016 On March 30 the US Federal Trade Commission filed suit in federal court alleging that settlements of patent litigation in the pharmaceutical industry in which a pioneer firm agrees not to market an 'authorized generic' violate antitrust law. The FTC is seeking disgorgement of what it alleges are 'ill-gotten gains' from Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and a number of generic firms in the agency's second suit challenging patent litigation settlements since the Supreme Court's decision in FTC v. Actavis, which declared settlements with so-called 'reverse-payments' to be potentially unlawful. The lawsuit underscores the FTC's view that Actavis should apply to non-cash...