Federal Trade Commission v. AbbVie, Inc.,
(E.D. Penn. December 13, 2015)
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
ordered AbbVie, Inc. and Besins Healthcare to produce unredacted
documents to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), because the
documents were relevant to the FTC's pay-for-delay and sham
litigation claims and contained business advice and analysis
provided by attorneys, not legal advice. Federal Trade
Commission v. AbbVie, Inc., 2015 WL 8623076, Civil Action No.
14-5151 (E.D. Penn. Dec. 13, 2015), (Bartle, J.).
The current FTC case relates to prior patent litigation
involving U.S. Patent No. 6,503,894, which covered the brand-name
testosterone drug, AndroGel® (testosterone gel). AndroGel was
developed by Unimed Pharmaceuticals—which was later acquired
by Solvay Pharmaceuticals—and Besins Healthcare. In 2009,
Perrigo Company filed an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA)
for a generic version of AndroGel. Solvay and Besins
