Pfizer’s Wyeth Settles Effexor XR Antitrust Suit for $39 Million

Pfizer Inc.’s subsidiary Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to pay $39 million to drug purchasers that alleged the manufacturer illegally worked to block generic competition to its blockbuster psychiatric drug Effexor XR.

The direct purchaser class plaintiffs—Rochester Drug Co-Operative Inc., Stephen L. LaFrance Holdings Inc. d/b/a SAJ Distributors, and Uniondale Chemists Inc.—filed the proposed settlement Tuesday in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey.

If the settlement is approved, the decision would end more than 12 years of litigation and extensive mediation between the purchasers and drugmakers.

The plaintiffs in 2011 filed the first antitrust lawsuits on behalf ...