A Massachusetts federal jury sided with defendants AstraZeneca PLC and Ranbaxy Inc. in the first pay-for-delay class action trial since the U.S. Supreme Court agreed the patent settlements could face antitrust scrutiny, finding that AstraZeneca would never have allowed a generic Nexium to launch before its medicine patents expired.
After a six-week trial and less than two days of deliberations, an 11-person jury rejected claims made by two groups of Nexium buyers that AstraZeneca’s Hatch Waxman Act settlement with Ranbaxy Inc. harmed competition. The plaintiffs had argued that AstraZeneca sought to hold on to profits on Nexium through settlements with Ranbaxy and other generic-drug makers.