AbbVie, Teva Dodge Insurer Class in Niaspan Generic-Delay Case

AbbVie Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. don’t yet have to face a certified “end payer” class claiming they delayed generic competition for the cholesterol drug Niaspan through illegal patent settlements, a Philadelphia federal judge ruled.

The plaintiffs “have proffered a complex class definition with multiple exclusions,” Judge Jan E. DuBois wrote Wednesday, and they “face an uphill battle” in “proving they have a reliable and administratively feasible mechanism for identifying class members.”

The decision declining to certify the proposed class of of insurers, pension funds, employers, and uninsured patients comes about nine months after DuBois gave class action status ...