US: Sanofi files antitrust suit against Mylan over EpiPen

On Monday Sanofi sued Mylan, accusing the pharmaceutical company of engaging in illegal conduct to squelch competition to its EpiPen allergy treatment, which has been at the center of a public debate over drug prices.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Trenton, NJ, Sanofi said Mylan caused it to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in sales by erecting barriers to US consumers’ access to and use of a rival product, Auvi-Q.

In particular, Sanofi said Mylan offered rebates to insurers, pharmaceutical benefit managers and state Medicaid agencies conditioned on Auvi-Q not being an epinephrine auto-injector device they would reimburse for use by consumers.

Sanofi had introduced the Auvi-Q in 2013 to treat anaphylaxis in patients who are at risk of or have a history of the potentially fatal allergic reaction. The company ceased marketing the product in 2015 following a recall.

In a statement, Sanofi sought damages, which under US antitrust law would be tripled, for Mylan’s conduct in the market for epinephrine auto-injectors.

“At the time when Sanofi was marketing Auvi-Q, Mylan engaged in illegal business practices to block a new and innovative product from competing against their best-selling epinephrine auto-injector, harming customers who sought to switch to Auvi-Q and harming Sanofi,” Sanofi said.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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