Amneal asks court to block Colorado's free allergy pen program
By Brendan Pierson
Sept 23 (Reuters) -Amneal Pharmaceuticals AMRX.O has sued Colorado in an effort to block a state law requiring it to provide free generic EpiPens to pharmacies.
In a complaint filed on Friday in federal court in Denver, Colorado, New Jersey-based Amneal said that the law, which was passed last year and took effect in January, was an illegal taking of its property under the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The law aims to bring down the often high costs of auto-injectors like Viatris' VTRS.O EpiPen, handheld devices that treat life-threatening severe allergic reactions by automatically injecting a dose of the drug epinephrine.
It requires all health insurance plans that cover auto-injectors to provide them at a cost of no more than $60 for a two-pack, a requirement that Amneal is not challenging.
The law also requires pharmacies to provide the injectors with the same $60 price cap to people whose insurance does not cover them, and manufacturers in turn to provide the pharmacies with a free replacement or reimbursement for each injector sold under that requirement.
The company's generic version of the device Adrenaclick, which was approved in 2018, generally costs more than $100 without insurance, while a pack of brand-name EpiPens can cost as much as $700.
Amneal said it has had to replace 304 injectors since the program began.
"Colorado's reimburse-or-resupply requirement plainly effects an unconstitutional, 'per se physical taking' of Amneal's personal property in violation of the Fifth Amendment," it said, asking the court to issue an order blocking enforcement of the law.
The office of Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser declined to comment.
Viatris drew harsh criticism from U.S. lawmakers in 2016 for increasing the price of EpiPens sixfold in less than a decade.
It reached a $465 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2017 over claims that it used anticompetitive tactics to drive up the price, and in 2022 agreed to pay $264 million to settle related private litigation.
Pfizer, which manufactured the product for Viatris, has also reached settlements with private plaintiffs totaling almost $400 million.
The case is Amneal Pharmaceuticals v. Weiser, U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, No. 1:24-cv-02609.
For Amneal: Jay Lefkowitz of Kirkland & Ellis
For Colorado: not yet available
Read more:
Mylan, U.S. finalize $465 million EpiPen settlement
EpiPen antitrust litigation settled; Viatris to pay $264 million
Pfizer to pay $50 mln to settle drug wholesalers' EpiPen antitrust claims
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York)
</body></html>
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
