The Settlement Of Merck's Zetia® Federal Antitrust Class Action Was Approved Today, In Norfolk, Virginia.

We've covered this back and forth, which later became a piece of federal class action litigation -- from about 2008, on -- so now. . . well over 15 years. This is plainly the legacy of one Fast Fred Hassan.

And as we've mentioned this summer, the able federal district court judge had indicated he would likely approve the negotiated settlement figures and terms. See our earlier coverage for the tallies on those. The attorneys for the plaintiffs here will likely reap over $30 million, when all the dust settles, and all class counsels are paid out. Well earned, as it was solid work all around, with some working over a decade now, to get to this moment. In any event, here is the opinion, hot off the presses just this afternoon -- and a bit from it:

. . .Defendants [Merck and Glenmark] entered into an unlawful agreement to delay the introduction of a less expensive generic version of Merck's cholesterol-lowering medication, Zetia, which resulted in artificially inflated prices for branded Zetia (Ezetimibe) and its generic equivalents. The alleged unlawful agreement is a 2010 settlement agreement resolving a patent infringement litigation Merck brought against Glenmark after Glenmark filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application ("ANDA") seeking to manufacture, market, and sell a less expensive, generic form of Zetia. As a result, the EPPs alleged that they paid more for Zetia and/or its generic equivalents than they would have paid absent Defendants' unlawful conduct. Defendants denied: (1) the EPPs' allegations of unlawful or wrongful conduct; and (2) that any of the alleged conduct caused any damage. . . .

The court is satisfied that the requested attorneys' fees of one-third of the Settlement Fund properly balances these policy goals. A significant award is appropriate for the attorneys because they litigated the case vigorously for nearly five years, managed the interests of the EPP Class, and fronted significant costs. . . .

Onward, but anyone who regards Fast Fred as any sort of life science leader to be emulated. . . is a few sandwiches short of a picnic. And again, this sort of chicanery is exactly why the federal payors need the right to negotiate price on older meds -- for the benefit of John Q. Public. Out.

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