The Federal Trade Commission reports that pharmaceutical companies entered into substantially fewer potential pay-for-delay patent dispute settlements in fiscal year 2014.
Under such settlements, brand-name drug companies pay generic companies to delay entry of less costly drugs onto the market. In FTC v. Actavis (2013), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a brand-name drug manufacturer’s payment to a generic competitor to settle patent litigation can violate U.S. antitrust laws.
The number of these potentially anticompetitive agreements has fallen significantly following the Supreme Court decision in Actavis. The FTC found that the total number of such deals filed with the FTC has dropped to 21 in FY 2014 from 29 in FY 2013, and 40 in FY 2012 prior to the Actavis ruling.
The report is here. The FTC's press release is here.
