Allergan pays $750m to settle claims that it blocked generics by “product hopping”

Allergan has agreed to pay $750m (£580m ;€680m) to settle claims from a group of US direct purchasers that it used anti-competitive practices to block them from buying cheaper generic alternatives when the patent expired on Namenda (memantine), a drug for Alzheimer’s disease.

The company made no admission of wrongdoing in the settlement, which averted a court hearing due to start the next day (29 October).1

Bulk purchasers of memantine had expected its price to fall dramatically in 2015, as the expiry of its patent enabled generic competitors made by Dr Reddy’s and Mylan NV to enter the market. But Forest Laboratories, a division of …