Four Generic Drugmakers Settle Pay-for-Delay Lawsuit

Four generic drugmakers agreed to pay a total of $1.54 million to settle pay-for-delay allegations over the Alzheimer’s drug Namenda (memantine), an oral NMDA receptor antagonist that reduces abnormal brain activity in patients with dementia.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Upsher-Smith Laboratories, and Sun Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay a combined $1.2 million, while Wockhard agreed to pay the remaining $340 thousand.

The drugmakers were hit with a class-action lawsuit by Sergeants Benevolent Association Health and Welfare Fund in 2015 for entering into pay-for-delay agreements with branded drugmakers Forest Pharmaceuticals and Merz — who are also defendants in the suit —to keep generic versions of Namenda off the market.