US: Pfizer accuses Johnson & Johnson of ‘anticompetitive practices’

Pfizer filed a lawsuit against fellow pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) over “anticompetitive practices” in a go-for-the-throat showdown involving the drug industry’s treatment of medicines that are similar to the originals, but don’t have the same exact active components.

Pfizer accused J&J of “exclusionary contracts” and price manipulation “to maintain its monopoly” for a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and other afflictions.

The brawl between Pfizer and J&J centers on the competition between J&J’s Remicade and Pfizer’s biosimilar alternative, Inflectra, which launched in late 2016.

Pfizer alleged that J&J threatened to withhold rebates from insurers that had determined Inflectra was an acceptable medical alternative to Remicade. The threats, Pfizer alleged, caused insurers to reverse course.

J&J also offered discounts on Remicade to healthcare providers in exchange for their pledge not to carry Inflectra, Pfizer alleged.

“These anticompetitive practices are preventing physicians from trying and patients from accessing the biosimilar,” Pfizer said in a statement.

Full Content: Reuters

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