A federal district judge in Rochester, N.Y., has given four insulin and diabetes drug manufacturers until Oct. 29 to file a motion to dismiss an upstate New York health center’s lawsuit claiming the manufacturers conspired to stop offering 340B pricing when covered entities use contract pharmacies.
U.S. Chief District Judge Elizabeth Wolford gave the health center, Mosaic Health, until Dec. 17 to file papers opposing the companies’ attempt to scuttle its case. The companies—AstraZeneca, Lilly, Novartis, and Sanofi—have until Jan. 14, 2022, to file any replies to Mosaic’s opposition. Wofford issued the scheduling order setting the October, December, and January deadlines late last month.
Mosaic sued the four companies in late July. It claims they colluded to raise their prices in violation of federal and state antitrust laws. The health center asks the court to certify the case as a class action on behalf of all 340B entities nationwide with contract pharmacy arrangements that have issued prescriptions for the defendants’ products since Sept. 1, 2020. The suit seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive relief and awards of actual, punitive, and other monetary damages.
By suing the companies for allegedly breaking antitrust laws, as opposed to alleging that the companies violated the 340B statute, Mosaic might have discovered a way to bypass roadblocks that have kept covered entities from fighting on their own behalf in court against manufacturers’ 340B contract pharmacy actions.
