In the latest slap at a pharmaceutical company by a local government, the city of Baltimore has filed a lawsuit accusing Biogen of striking an “unlawful” scheme with the largest pharmacy benefit managers to block generic competition of a best-selling multiple sclerosis treatment.
The effort allegedly originated as Biogen planned to fend off generic companies that hoped to sell lower-cost alternatives to Tecfidera which, several years ago, had been a franchise product and generated nearly half of its revenue. With looming patent expirations, Biogen sought to market a “next generation” version called Vumerity and convince doctors to switch patients to the newer drug.
However, the plan went awry when, four years ago, its patents were declared invalid amid patent litigation with several generic companies. This was roughly 18 months before its “market switch strategy” could be implemented and, in fact, only 1% of Tecfidera patients were on the newer drug at that point, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in Illinois.
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