Thalomid/Revlimid

Berman Tabacco is plaintiff’s counsel representing New England Carpenters Health Benefits Fund in this antitrust class action seeking damages arising out of Celgene’s alleged unlawful exclusion of competition from the market for two drugs (i) thalidomide, which Celgene sells under the brand-name Thalomid; and (ii) lenalidomide, which Celgene sells under the brand-name Revlimid. The case recently settled for $55 million dollars subject to final approval by the U.S. District Court in New Jersey, currently scheduled for hearing in early 2020. The case alleged that Celgene has been engaged in a multi-faceted scheme to block generic competition for these drugs thereby effectively monopolizing the market for at least the past seven years. By doing so, Celgene allegedly delayed the onset of generic competition and charged users billions of dollars for these products. Celgene’s alleged scheme includes having used FDA safety requirements as a pretext to delay the availability of cost-saving generic alternatives, having fraudulently obtained patents on the procedures to ensure safe use of Thalomid and Revlimid and having engaged in sham litigation against competitors who obtained samples for generic bioequivalence testing. Plaintiffs alleged that the prices for these vital drugs increased more than 3,500% for Thalomid and 120% for Revlimid since the drugs’ introduction, resulting in Celgene having been enriched with supra-competitive in profits. Plaintiffs had alleged that as a result of Celgene’s anticompetitive conduct, at least fourteen different generic manufacturers were foreclosed in their attempts to enter the market.  In early 2020, the parties reached an agreement to settle this litigation for $34 million, which was approved by the court on October 2, 2020.