Drug Industry May Face New Areas of Antitrust Scrutiny

Citizen petitions, which ask the FDA to take action on pending generic drug applications, haven’t gotten as much attention as other potentially anticompetitive conduct in the pharmaceutical industry.

But recent events indicate abuse of citizen petitions may join reverse payments in patent litigation settlements and product hopping as focuses of antitrust scrutiny, an antitrust law expert told Bloomberg BNA.

In February, the Federal Trade Commission sued Shire ViroPharma, a unit of Shire plc, for allegedly abusing the citizen petition process, marking the first time the FTC has sued over a citizen petition.

The FTC alleged the company filed a series ...