Relations are getting chilly in the world of Big Pharm, with lawsuits flying between J&J and Amgen.
Mind you, a chill in the air is a rare event in beautiful Thousand Oaks, California. The only chill Insider has ever seen there is frosty demeanour of Amgens' home office staff! Not many laughs there, he can tell you!
Poor J&J alleges that Amgen engaged in illegal market practices in order to push J&J's EPO based drug Procrit from the market, allowing Amgen's competitor, Aranesp, to dominate. J&J said Amgen was able to do this by "bundling" Aranesp with other popular Amgen drugs, Neulasta and Neupogen.
Failure to buy at least 75% of Aranasep from Amgen meant that a cancer clinic would have to buy Neulasta and Neupogen at prices that exceed government reimbursement, the lawsuit said. The Aranesp share had to be at least 90% for clinics to receive the same price they got prior to Oct. 1.
Bundling is illegal, but often difficult to prove. Probably the best chance J&J have is if they can "turn" someone inside Amgen to blow a whistle or two. There could be big money in that!
Insider predicts that this one will run and run.
Source: New York Times
No comments:
Post a Comment