On May 18, a federal jury in Massachusetts returned a $885 million verdict against Takeda Pharmaceuticals, finding that Takeda entered into an anticompetitive patent settlement that compensated a generic manufacturer to delay launching a generic version of its IBS drug, Amitiza® (lubiprostone). In re Amitiza Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:21-cv-11057 (D. Mass.). The suit consolidated complaints filed by a class of direct purchasers (wholesalers), five individual retailers (pharmacy chains), and a class of indirect purchasers (end payors). The outcome is significant because it is the first jury trial win for private antitrust plaintiffs in a suit challenging a patent settlement reverse payment. Previous suits have either settled or gone to trial and lost. For Brand and Generic pharmaceutical manufacturers, this may lead to further scrutiny of past settlements.
