Merck Trims Some Humana Antitrust Claims Over Cholesterol Drugs

Pharma companies Merck & Co. Inc. and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. convinced a judge to throw out several claims alleging they illegally monopolized the market for popular cholesterol-lowering drugs and kept prices artificially high.

The health insurer Humana Inc. failed to sufficiently plead that the companies engaged in a monopolization scheme or that they used deceptive patents and sham litigation, among other things, to carry it out, according to a Monday order from Judge Brian Martinotti of the US District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Yet Martinotti denied a bid to dismiss antitrust damages claims relating to sales of ...