Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson Settle Remicade Antitrust Suit

Pfizer settled with Johnson & Johnson, ending a four-year battle over J&J’s alleged use of exclusionary contracts to block biosimilar competition to its immunosuppressive drug Remicade.

The settlement allows Pfizer to continue selling its own drug, Inflectra, in the US, Pfizer said in a statement provided to Bloomberg Law Thursday. The drugmaker didn’t reveal the terms of the deal.

Pfizer filed suit against J&J in 2017 alleging that anticompetitive practices by J&J were preventing providers and patients from using Inflectra even though it was available for an average selling price of 10% less than Remicade.

Pfizer said it will continue to sell Inflectra in the US marketplace. The company said it “has begun to see progress in the overall biosimilars marketplace in the United States. However, changes in policy at a government level and acceptance of biosimilars among key stakeholders are critical to deliver more meaningful uptake so patients and the healthcare system at-large can benefit from the cost savings these medicines may deliver.”

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