Norvir Antitrust Case to Continue

A short news item here.

On January 12, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in San Francisco denied a motion to dismiss filed by Abbott Laboratories in a big pending anti-trust lawsuit claiming that Abbott has engaged in predatory pricing strategies with its drug Norvir, an essential component in the protease cocktails that many people living with HIV depend upon to sustain their lives.  A group of national companies that distribute prescription drugs joined together as a group of direct purchasers of Norvir to bring this case.  The argument is that when new combination drugs came out that required a much smaller component of Norvir  in order to stimulate their activity against HIV, demand for Norvir fell and Abbott responded by sharply jacking up the price.

 

 

The news that Abbott was unable to get the case dismissed is important, because it may lead to price relief down the line if the plaintiffs either eventually win their case or can negotiate a settlement that requires price relief from Abbott.  Of course, given the big bucks involved, Abbott is likely to try to find some way to get this to the court of appeals, although it is not an appealable final order.  If the judge had granted the motion and dismissed the case, that would be a final order that the plaintiffs could appeal, but a denial of a motion to dismiss is not a ruling on the ultimate merits – it just says that if the plaintiffs can prove their factual allegations, they may be able to win because they have articulated a valid legal theory against the defendant.  If Abbott decides to tough it out and go to trial rather than negotiate a settlement, it could appeal a trial loss, claiming that Judge Wilkens should have dismissed the case on legal grounds.