Insurer EmblemHealth is leading a class-action lawsuit against a subsidiary of AstraZeneca, claiming that the company blocked competition for a pricey, rare blood disease medication and overcharged health plans and patients billions of dollars.
The FiDi-based health plan filed a lawsuit in a Massachusetts federal court on Wednesday, alleging that Boston, Mass.-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals fraudulently obtained new patents that allowed it to maintain exclusivity over Soliris, a monoclonal antibody that treats a range of rare blood and immune disorders. The patents effectively delayed other companies from launching similar versions of the drug at a lower price point, leaving patients and insurers on the hook to cover the more than $500,000 annual price tag, the lawsuit said.
“The effect of Alexion’s misconduct is to net Alexion billions of dollars in revenue at the expense of end payers,” EmblemHealth said in the complaint.
A representative from Alexion Pharmaceuticals declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Alexion brought Soliris to market in 2007 to treat a rare and life-threatening blood disease known as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, and has since maintained exclusivity over the drug. Soliris is one of the most expensive drugs in the country, bringing in more than $2 billion in annual revenue for Alexion as of 2019, according to the complaint.
The patent for Soliris was supposed to expire in March of 2021, paving the way for lower-cost biosimilars to enter the market. But scientists and senior management at Alexion unlawfully secured five new patents in 2017 and 2020 that extended their exclusive right to manufacture the medication, the lawsuit alleges.
The drug company enforced those new patents against competitors to delay the entrance of biosimilars – cheaper, similar versions of its blood disease drug – onto the market, a “scheme” that worked to preserve its revenue, according to the complaint. The patent enforcement resulted in settlements with Samsung Bioepis and Amgen, which have approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell biosimilar versions of Soliris.
EmblemHealth estimates that delayed competition has cost patients and payers upwards of $2 billion per year, according to the lawsuit. The complaint seeks to end Alexion’s monopoly of Soliris and award monetary damages.
