Last week a federal judge in Massachusetts largely denied a series of motions seeking dismissal of various “pay-for-delay” claims brought by direct and indirect purchasers involving AstraZeneca’s acid reflux drug Nexium. Although certain federal and state claims were trimmed on statute of limitation grounds, U.S. District Judge William Young let stand the core claims of the suit based on the alleged continuing harm flowing from the agreements. This ruling comes just months after the Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision in FTC v. Actavis and is one of the first times a court has applied the rule of reason analysis as articulated by the Court. Significantly, in his ruling Judge Young adopted a view strongly urged by the FTC (see amicus briefs here and here), that so-called “No-AG” provisions can be viewed as “reverse payments.”
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