The U.S. court ruled that AbbVie used sham litigation to illegally maintain its monopoly over the testosterone replacement drug Androgel, and ordered $448 million in monetary relief to consumers who were overcharged for Androgel as a result of AbbVie's conduct, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
The decision handed down in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania is the largest monetary award in a litigated FTC antitrust case, the agency said.
In 2014, the FTC alleged AbbVie and its partner Besins Healthcare Inc. blocked consumer access to lower cost versions of the testosterone replacement drug Androgel.
AbbVie has previously denied the allegations and the breakdown of relief between AbbVie and Besins was not immediately clear.
FTC chairman Joe Simons said "This decision is a double victory, both for patients who rely on Androgel and for competition more broadly. It sends a clear signal that pharmaceutical companies can't use baseless litigation to forestall competition from low-cost generics."
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