Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Case No.: 2:04-CV-05898-LS

Wexler Wallace represents the United Food and Commercial Workers Unions and Employers Midwest Health Benefits Fund, one of several third-party payors to file suits in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) for violations of state antitrust laws and unfair competition.  Plaintiffs allege that GSK filed baseless patent infringement actions against makers of generic versions of Wellbutrin SR in order to extend its market exclusivity for Wellbutrin SR and Zyban, medications commonly used to treat depression and to help individuals to quit smoking.

Plaintiffs claim that GSK’s actions caused consumers and third-party payors to pay more for Wellbutrin SR than they would have if less expensive generic versions of the drug had entered the market earlier.  Generic versions of brand drugs typically cost at least 30 percent less than their brand counterparts when there is a single generic competitor and as much as 80 percent less when there are multiple generic competitors on the market.

The district court denied Defendants’ motions to dismiss and for summary judgment.  It also denied Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification for failure to carve out from the Class definition certain consumers who the court believed were not susceptible to class wide proof.  Plaintiffs have renewed their motion for class certification in light of the court’s concerns.

To learn more about the case and view the most recent Complaint, click here.  To view the decision denying class certification, click here.