Barr settles Novartis suit for $22.5M

New Jersey, USA-based drugmaker Barr Pharmaceuticals says that it has agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle a lawsuit with Sandoz, the generic drugs division of Swiss pharmaceutical major Novartis.

The action, which was brought against Barr in 1998 (Marketletters passim) by Invamed and Apothecon (now owned by Sandoz), claimed that the firm was in violation of antitrust laws and illegally blocking access to the raw material source for warfarin sodium. In 2004, the US Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiffs had raised issues of material fact on their antitrust claims, scheduling a trial date of June 12 this year.

Prior to commencement of the trial, Barr agreed to make a one-time settlement payment in order, it said, to avoid incurring further defense costs.