America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the top US health insurance lobby, threw its support behind New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and his antitrust case against Actavis and its Alzheimer’s disease drug Namenda IR.
A lawsuit alleges Actavis altered Namenda IL just enough to replace it with its newer formulation, Namenda IR, prior to its patent expiration. A judge ruled in a preliminary injunction in January that Actavis must keep Namenda IL on the market. AHIP submitted an amicus brief in support of the plaintiff at the end of February.
AHIP spokesperson Ben Jenkins stated in a news release at the time: “This case is an example of what happens when drugmakers engage in anticompetitive behavior under the guise of innovation…forcing a product switch to protect a monopoly punishes consumers in the worst possible way by delaying the entry of more affordable prescription drugs into the market.”
AHIP added that Actavis’s alleged “coercive conduct” removes consumer choice from the marketplace, “restrains competition and raises the cost of pharmaceuticals for customers.”