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Ranbaxy Buyers’ $485M Deal in Generics MDL Gets Initial Nod

Law360

April 29, 2022

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals drug purchasers nabbed initial approval of a $485 million global settlement struck in March over claims the drugmaker manipulated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s generic-drug approval process to box out competitors.

U.S. District Court Judge Nathanial M. Gorton preliminary approved the two deals on Thursday in Massachusetts federal court and signed off on a proposed order laid out by the parties. Under the terms of the deals, $340 million is designated to direct purchasers and $145 million will go to end-payors such as health care plans.

In the multidistrict litigation, the end-payors asserted that Ranbaxy erroneously acquired exclusivity periods for certain drugs, which set back the launch of generic versions and maintained inflated prices. The drug wholesalers said they then fell victim to the high prices as a result of the alleged scheme.

The claims asserted by the parties came after the FDA and the U.S. Department of Justice initiated investigations into Ranbaxy, which culminated in guilty pleas and a $500 million fine in 2013 for lying to regulators and selling drugs that didn’t meet federal safety standards.

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The direct purchasers are represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Hilliard Shadowen LLP, Radice Law Firm PC, Sperling & Slater PC, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP, Wexler Wallace LLP, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Nussbaum Law Group PC.

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