Impax’s $145 Million Antitrust Deal Nets $55 Million for Lawyers

Impax Laboratories Inc. is free of antitrust litigation led by a group of drug wholesalers and large retailers over its alleged scheme to delay generic versions of the painkiller Opana ER, after a federal judge in Chicago approved their $145 million settlement.

Judge Harry D. Leinenweber signed off Thursday on the agreement, which resolves class action claims brought against Impax—now part of Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc.—by direct purchasers of Opana, an opioid. He also handed $50.5 million in legal fees and $4.3 million in expenses to counsel for the drug buyers.

Leinenweber, writing for the US District Court for the Northern ...