Merck filed motions in a Virginia court to avoid proposed class action lawsuits over what plaintiffs called a pay-for-delay deal.

The plaintiffs, a group of drug distributors, claim the drugmaker made a patent settlement to delay the release of a generic of anti-cholesterol drug Zetia.

In its motions, the company asked a federal judge to force the plaintiffs suing it to take their antitrust cases to arbitration, citing an arbitration clause in its distribution agreement.