Court Rules Mylan Willfully Violated State Antitrust Laws

A federal jury has found that Mylan Laboratories willfully violated state antitrust laws in Minnesota, Illinois and Massachusetts by negotiating agreements with active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) suppliers that artificially inflated prices for two of Mylan's antianxiety drugs.

A U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia jury issued its verdict in Health Care Service, et al v. Mylan Laboratories, awarding the plaintiffs -- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Federated Mutual Insurance Company and Health Care Service Corporation -- $12 million in damages.

The plaintiffs filed suit against Mylan in 2001 seeking $1.75 million in damages to cover overpayments for generic versions of Mylan's Ativan (lorazepam) and Tranxene (clorazepate dipotassium), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota said in a statement.

In 1997, according to the plaintiffs, Mylan negotiated an exclusive licensing agreement with API supplier Cambrex and its subsidiaries to supply the API for lorazepam and clorazepate. The licensing agreement effectively cut off the supply of API for these drugs, which allowed Mylan to raise its prices for lorazepam and clorazepate by 20 to 30 times the original price, said Ken Freeling, a partner with the Washington, D.C., office of Robins, Kaplan, Miller and lead counsel for the plaintiffs.

The jury's award is still subject to approval by the judge. Since the jury found Mylan's actions to be willful, the judge could choose to triple the damages and force the defendants to pay the plaintiffs' attorneys' fees, Freeling said. The judge could also choose to overturn the jury's verdict or reduce the jury's damage award, he added. These options will be the subject of post-trial motions that will occur over the next few weeks, he said.