Allergan Settles Restasis Antitrust Claims for $51.2 Million

On February 25, 2020, a class of direct purchasers of brand Restasis (cyclosporine) eye drops moved in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Gershon, J.) for an order preliminary approving a $51 million settlement reached with Allergan over allegations that Allergan deployed a multi-faceted scheme to delay generic competition to its blockbuster Restasis eye drop franchise. 

The alleged scheme included Allergan’s attempt to transfer relevant Restasis patents to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe to invoke the Tribe’s sovereign immunity as a patent invalidation defense, a unprecedented tactic that sparked Congressional investigations as well as an amici filing from the Department of Justice.  Reviewing courts ultimately rejected the tactic — what the DOJ characterized as Allergan’s “commercial rental of a tribe’s sovereign immunity” — and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari.

Faruqi and Faruqi, LLP is one of leading firms representing the direct purchaser class plaintiffs.