Pfizer Settles Lipitor Antitrust Lawsuit With $93 Million Payout

Pfizer Inc. has agreed to pay $93 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit accusing the pharmaceutical giant of conspiring to delay sales of generic versions of the blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor.

The class settlement, announced in a motion filed Wednesday, is the culmination of more than a decade of multidistrict litigation brought by drug distributors in US District Court for the District of New Jersey. The distributors, including Burlington Drug Co. Inc. and Rochester Drug Co-Operative Inc., claimed Pfizer illegally paid pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories to delay marketing generic versions of Lipitor and engaged in fraud when attempting to extend its Lipitor patent rights.

Despite agreeing to the settlement, a Pfizer spokesperson said the company denies wrongdoing, calling the allegations “factually and legally without merit.”

“As this case has already gone on for over twelve years, considerations led the company to determine that the proposed class settlement in this case is fair, reasonable and the best way to resolve this litigation,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

In the settlement filing, lawyers for the drug distributors said it’s in the best interest of the plaintiffs to enter into a settlement and “avoid the uncertainties of litigation.” The $93 million deal still awaits a judge’s approval.

The distributors’ case against Ranbaxy is ongoing.

The cholesterol-lowering drug, patented in 1997, was highly profitable for Pfizer, generating more than $130 billion in sales. The Supreme Court rejected appeals by Pfizer in 2018 to block lawsuits over its Lipitor patent settlements, arguing the allegations were plausible enough to proceed in federal trial courts.

The case is Burlington Drug Co. Inc. v. Pfizer Inc., D.N.J., No. 12-cv-02389, 2/14/24.