The Paul, Weiss Antitrust Practice advises clients on a full range of global antitrust matters, including antitrust regulatory clearance, government investigations, private litigation, and counseling and compliance. The firm represents clients before antitrust and competition authorities in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions around the world.
Federal Trade Commission Suffers Another Setback in Its Campaign to End Pharmaceutical Reverse-Settlement Agreements
June 27, 2012
Litigation partner Aidan Synnott and associate William Michael authored an article in Competition Policy International about developments in the Federal Trade Commission's campaign to end "reverse settlement" payments among manufacturers of branded and generic pharmaceuticals. In particular, the article, titled "Federal Trade Commission Suffers Another Setback in Its Campaign to End Pharmaceutical Reverse-Settlement Agreements," discusses Federal Trade Commission v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, in which the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a complaint alleging that a reverse settlement payment, made by the holder of a pharmaceutical patent to two generic drug manufacturers, violated the antitrust laws. The decision renders reverse settlements "immune from antitrust attack" in the Eleventh Circuit in most circumstances, and further diminishes the FTC's chances of persuading other courts to adopt its policy position.