Pfizer has secured a significant legal victory after a federal judge in Connecticut removed the pharmaceutical giant from a sprawling antitrust lawsuit accusing dozens of drugmakers of manipulating generic drug prices across the United States.
The lawsuit, brought by 45 states, the District of Columbia and four U.S. territories, alleges that pharmaceutical companies coordinated pricing and market practices involving around 80 generic medicines, many of them commonly prescribed treatments.
In his ruling, Chief Judge Michael Shea concluded that prosecutors failed to establish that Pfizer or its former generic-drug subsidiary, Greenstone, participated in an unlawful scheme between 2010 and 2014 involving bid-rigging, customer allocation, or price-fixing tied to six generic medicines.
The products at the center of the allegations included generic versions of Eplerenone, used to treat high blood pressure, Latanoprost eye drops for glaucoma, and several formulations of Clindamycin phosphate used for acne treatment.
State attorneys had argued that Greenstone executives maintained extensive communications with representatives of Swiss drugmaker Sandoz and that these contacts were evidence of coordinated anti-competitive conduct. However, the court found that the states had not demonstrated that Pfizer itself knowingly joined any conspiracy or approved pricing decisions with awareness of unlawful activity.
Judge Shea also rejected arguments that Greenstone acted solely as an extension of Pfizer. In the decision, he noted that Greenstone operated as a profit-generating generic drug business and was not merely carrying out directives on behalf of its parent company.
The ruling narrows one of the largest generic drug antitrust cases in the country but leaves the broader litigation intact. The case continues against numerous other pharmaceutical companies and executives accused of participating in industry-wide efforts to inflate generic drug prices.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who has played a leading role in the litigation, said officials are reviewing the decision while continuing to pursue claims against the remaining defendants. He maintained that consumers continue to face excessive prescription drug costs and argued that stronger competition is necessary within the generic drug market.
Pfizer welcomed the court’s decision, describing Greenstone as a long-standing provider of affordable generic medicines and indicating that it would continue defending itself against related allegations.
Greenstone was separated from Pfizer as part of a 2020 transaction that led to the creation of Viatris. Although Pfizer has now been dismissed from this particular case, the company remains involved in another generic-drug antitrust matter overseen by the same court.
The latest ruling marks an important setback for state attorneys seeking to hold a broad range of pharmaceutical companies accountable for alleged collusion, while offering Pfizer a notable reprieve in a years-long legal battle over generic drug pricing.
