The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois receives a class action complaint against a pay-for-delay agreement (AbbVie)

Plaintiffs Targeting Biologic-Biosimilars Settlements with Pay-for-Delay Antitrust Claims* Antitrust principles that can invalidate certain pay-for-delay settlements will be expanding into the new frontier of biologic and biosimilar drugs if plaintiffs in several new suits are successful. Recently-filed antitrust lawsuits against AbbVie, manufacturer of a leading biologic drug, Humira, and numerous biosimilar manufacturers are alleging that settlements between the AbbVie and various biosimilar competitors should be scrutinized under the principles of the Supreme Court’s Actavis decision. If the Northern District of Illinois agrees with the various allegations made by plaintiff classes, Actavis’s “large and unjustified” settlement payment standard could be expanded beyond the generic