Amitiza Buyers Achieve Class Certification in Pay-for-Delay Case

Direct and “end-payor” purchasers of the constipation drug Amitiza gained class status in a case accusing Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. of delaying the generic form of the medication, causing consumers to pay inflated prices.

Judge Myong J. Joun of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted class certification Friday to both classes of plaintiffs, which include private health insurers and self-insured employees.

The case dates to 2021, when supermarket chain Meijer, the proposed class representative for direct purchaser plaintiffs in the case, sued Takeda, alleging the company agreed to pay Par Pharmaceutical Inc. to keep the generic ...