The Federal Trade Commission lost another battle in its war against “pay for delay” deals between brand name and generic drug makers when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit April 26 ruled that a settlement reached by the maker of AndroGel, a blockbuster treatment for low testosterone, did not violate federal antitrust laws.
The FTC alleged that the deal between AndroGel patent holder Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now part of Abbotts Product Inc.) and generic drug makers Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Paddock Laboratories, Inc./Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc. was an unfair restraint of trade. The FTC asserted that the AndroGel patent was most likely invalid, and that Solvay’s payments to the generic rivals to hold off entering the market unlawfully protected its monopoly.
