Emblem Health Inc. on Thursday filed a class action complaint against AstraZeneca PLC’s (AZN) fully-owned unit Alexion Pharmaceuticals in Massachusetts federal court, alleging that the latter violated antitrust law through monopolistic acts that unlawfully delayed the introduction of biosimilar competition for eculizumab.
Eculizumab is a drug used to treat a range of rare blood and immune disorders. Alexion has been selling eculizumab under the brand name Soliris to treat the condition called paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria since 2007.
Emblem Health alleged that Alexion charged “one of the single highest drug costs in
U.S. history, upwards of $500,000 per patient per year,” after fortifying itself from competition with patents.
“U.S. purchasers of eculizumab—one of the most expensive drugs in the world—
have paid supra-competitive prices for eculizumab due to Alexion’s unlawful acts,” it alleged in the lawsuit, while adding that overpayment for Soliris is estimated to exceed $2 billion.
The lawsuit also alleged that Alexion used its patents to extract settlements or delay its would-be competitors.
Emblem Health has filed the lawsuit individually and on behalf of Soliris buyers. The company requested an order from the court to end Alexion’s monopoly on Soliris and seek monetary relief for overcharges.
Soliris brought in total revenue of $2.59 billion for AstraZeneca in 2024 and accounted for over 5% of the company’s total product sales during the year.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment remained within ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours while message volume remained ‘high’.
AZN stock has risen by over 3% year-to-date but is down by 1% over the past 12 months.
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