In In Re Neurontin Antitrust Litigation, New Jersey District Court Judge Faith S. Hochberg denied both parties’ motions for summary judgment, saying there are many factual disputes that must be resolved. In this multidistrict suit, direct purchaser plaintiffs, including CVS Pharmacy Inc., Rite Aid Corp., Louisiana Wholesale Drug Co. Inc., and Meijer Inc., accuse Pfizer Inc. of conspiring to bar competition for its epilepsy treatment Neurontin and promoting off-label uses through “sham” patent infringement suits and other schemes.
The court denied Pfizer’s motion because there are disputes of fact regarding whether Pfizer had monopoly power. The court denied plaintiffs summary judgment on the issue of whether Pfizer had monopoly power because the parties dispute the boundaries of the relevant market. The judge also denied plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion on the anti-competitive conduct claims and their request that the court bar Pfizer from denying facts determined against them in previous cases, including a 2004 criminal guilty plea. According to the court, summary judgment is not proper on these issues because there are disputes as to what Pfizer pled guilty to, and whether the other suits are proof of Pfizer’s sham litigation. Finally, as part of the ruling, Judge Hochberg held that Pfizer can use evidence of settlements it reached with generic manufacturers in other cases as a defense to show that those infringement suits had merit.