Global law firm White & Case secured a complete victory for Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. and Paddock Laboratories, Inc. when the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia dismissed the final set of antitrust claims brought by purchasers of AndroGel®, a testosterone replacement drug. The purchasers had claimed that the pharmaceutical company defendants had violated the antitrust laws by initiating, then settling, sham patent infringement litigation in order to delay the entry of generic competition to AndroGel®. White & Case partner Eric Grannon, co-lead counsel for Par and Paddock, notes that the victory “not only saved our clients lots of money, [but] drove home the theme that it is the record of the underlying case that matters.”
Earlier, the court had dismissed the purchasers’ claims that the settlement was anticompetitive in itself.
“This case is a cautionary tale for those who would bring antitrust class action suits against patent-shortening settlements, particularly court-approved ones,” said J. Mark Gidley, who also represented Par and Paddock, and chairs White & Case’s Global Antitrust Practice.
In addition to Gidley and Grannon, Par and Paddock also were represented by Meytal McCoy and Mika Ikeda of the Firm’s Washington, DC office.
