Antitrust/Competition

Experience Highlights

• ​​​​​​Abbvie in its $63 billion acquisition of Allergan, the manufacturer of the well-known medication Botox. The Wall Street Journal reported that this was one of the biggest mergers in the healthcare sector in the year it was announced.

• ​​​​​​Monsanto Company in obtaining US and EU competition clearances for the company's $66 billion acquisition by Bayer, as well as coordinated antitrust/competition approvals in almost 30 other jurisdictions worldwide.

• Bristol-Myers Squibb in its US$90 billion acquisition of Celgene and the related US$13.4 billion divesture of Celgene's OTEZLA® program to Amgen.

• Boston Scientific in its $4.2 billion acquisition of BTG plc, before the German FCO and other competition authorities worldwide.

• Pfizer in its US$43 billion acquisition of Seagen Inc., a world leader in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

• Numerous pharmaceutical companies in FTC investigations relating to issues such as patent infringement litigation settlements, alleged competitive issues with distribution systems, product hopping, and price gouging.

• Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Novartis Corporation, and Novartis AG in obtaining early and cost-effective dismissal of all third-party payor health plans’ claims that Novartis brought so-called “sham” litigation to enforce patents in an effort to impede generic competition for Gleevec®. Our team also persuaded the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to affirm the decision. United Food and Commercial Workers Unions and Employers Midwest Health Benefits Fund, et al. v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, et al.

• Bausch Health Companies in antitrust class actions alleging that the settlement of a patent litigation between Bausch's predecessor and a potential generic competitor resulted in the delay of generic competition. Glumetza Antitrust Litigation.

• Pharmaceutical manufacturer in wholesaler (direct purchaser) and third-party payor (indirect purchaser) class actions and by state attorneys general consolidated into multi-district litigation, in which plaintiffs allege that the company conspired with several other generic drug makers to increase prices of a number of different generic drugs, creams, lotions and ointments. In Re Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation.

• Pfizer and Warner-Lambert against claims brought by the State of Louisiana that Pfizer and Warner-Lambert delayed the introduction of generic versions of Neurontin® by bringing alleged “sham” litigation to enforce patents, causing the State Medicaid Agency to overpay for branded Neurontin®, allegedly in violation of Louisiana anti-monopoly and other laws. State of Louisiana v. Pfizer Inc. and Warner-Lambert Company, LLC.