Press release
United Therapeutics Defeats Preliminary Injunction Motion In Litigation With Sandoz And RareGen
SILVER SPRING, Md. and RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR) announced that on January 29,
About this update from United Therapeutics Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"SILVER SPRING, Md. and RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR) announced that on January 29, 2020, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey issued a decision in favor of United Therapeutics and Smiths Medical ASD, Inc. denying the request for preliminary injunction sought by Sandoz Inc. and RareGen, LLC in pending antitrust litigation. According to the Court, \"[Sandoz and RareGen] have not met their burden of demonstrating a reasonable probability of eventual success in the litigation.\" The unsealed opinion was just released by the Court. \n\n \n \n\n \nBy way of background, United Therapeutics and Smiths Medical ASD, Inc. were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in federal court by Sandoz and RareGen on April 16, 2019. The lawsuit alleges that United Therapeutics engaged in anticompetitive conduct in connection with efforts by Sandoz and RareGen to launch their generic version of Remodulin® (treprostinil) Injection. The claims center around access to both Smith Medical's CADD-MS®3 pump, which is used for the subcutaneous delivery of Remodulin, and to the cartridges used with the pump. Smiths Medical decided in 2014 to discontinue the pump and related cartridges, and in response, United Therapeutics invested millions of dollars to fund production of additional pumps and cartridges for its patients. Sandoz and RareGen allege that United Therapeutics' purchase of these additional cartridges for Remodulin patients constitutes a violation of antitrust law. Following expedited discovery in the litigation, Sandoz and RareGen filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction to obtain the cartridges that were produced by Smiths Medical under the supply agreement with United Therapeutics. \nIn finding that Sandoz and RareGen failed to demonstrate they were likely to prevail in the litigation, the Court noted that Sandoz and RareGen \"produced no evidence UTC's purchase of [the cartridges for the CADD-MS3 system] was motivated by or intended to forestall Sandoz's entry into the subcutaneous market.\" Rather, United Therapeutics made a significant investment under an agreement with Smiths Medical that ensured the CADD-MS3 pump would continue to be available to deliver Remodulin for a period of time after Smiths Medical announced discontinuation of ...