FTC: Patent Settlements Need Not Involve Overt Cash Payments to Be Anticompetitive

Patent settlements that involve a branded company’s commitment to not launch an authorized generic (AG) in competition with a generic company (no-AG agreements) are “without a doubt” anticompetitive pay-for-delay deals even though no cash payments are involved, the FTC says in an amicus brief. The agency’s comments were filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in conjunction with a private antitrust suit. The suit challenges a patent deal that Wyeth and Teva reached over Wyeth’s blockbuster antidepressant drug Effexor XR (venlafaxine HCl).
Drug Industry Daily