Allergan Agrees to $2.74 Million Payments in Generics Case

Allergan has agreed to pay $2.74 million to three labor union health funds in a bid to bring antitrust litigation against the drugmaker to a close.

The payments, revealed in documents filed in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, resolves claims from certain plaintiffs that alleged anticompetitive behavior related to the ulcerative colitis drug Asacol (mesalamine).

The lawsuit, first filed in 2015, accused Allergan subsidiary Warner Chilcott of anticompetitive behavior when it pulled its Asacol product from the market four months before its patents expired. The drugmaker replaced Asacol with a new drug, Delzicol, that still enjoyed patent protection. The plaintiffs argued this prevented a generic of Asacol from coming to market, forcing consumers to buy the replacement drug, which they alleged was inferior.