Four Decades for Justice
March 17, 2011
On March 7, 2011, Judge Steven Brick of the Superior Court of California, Alameda County, granted summary judgment in favor of a group of pharmaceutical manufacturers and their trade group, PhRMA, in an antitrust action brought by a group of retail pharmacists in 2004 under California law. Cravath served as co-counsel to defendant Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
The pharmacists alleged that the pharmaceutical companies conspired to inflate the prices of prescription drugs sold in the United States, including California. Summary judgment was granted for the defendants in December 2006 based on the “pass-on” legal defense, but that judgment was reversed by the Supreme Court of California in July 2010 and the case was remanded to the trial court. Defendants’ motions for summary judgment on the merits of the action were argued on February 17, 2011, and were granted with the Court finding that the plaintiffs failed to provide evidence suggesting the existence of an unlawful conspiracy.
The Cravath lawyers involved in this matter include partners Evan R. Chesler, Peter T. Barbur, Richard J. Stark and associates Brendon DeMay and Jacob M. Honigman.
Deals & Cases
February 03, 2011
On January 31, 2011, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio granted a motion to dismiss antitrust claims brought against Cravath clients Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Sanofi-Aventis. Direct and indirect purchasers of Plavix® filed purported class actions in the Southern District of Ohio. All plaintiffs alleged that patent settlement agreements involving Plavix® constituted an unlawful restraint of trade in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The indirect purchasers also alleged violations of various state antitrust and consumer protection statutes as well as unjust enrichment. The court granted Cravath’s motion to dismiss the indirect purchasers’ claims in their entirety. The direct purchaser cases were previously dismissed. Cravath partner Richard J. Stark argued the motions for both Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis.
Deals & Cases
October 20, 2010
On October 19, 2010, Judge Sidney Stein of the Southern District of New York issued an Opinion and Order granting the motion by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company for summary judgment on damages against Apotex in the long-running patent infringement litigation on the drug Plavix®, the world’s second-largest-selling prescription drug. Cravath has represented the plaintiffs, Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb, since the commencement of the case in 2002. Today’s decision rejects a number of last-minute arguments by Apotex, grants plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment as to damages and directs the entry of a final judgment in favor of Cravath’s clients of more than $550 million, including prejudgment interest.
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