On Monday, U.S. District Judge William G. Young denied Defendants AstraZeneca PLC and Ranbaxy Inc.’s Motions for Directed Verdict, saying the Nexium pay-for-delay case should be decided by the jury. Later that day, Defendant Teva Pharmaceuticals settled with Plaintiffs.
Defendants had filed several directed verdict motions last week seeking judgment on all Plaintiffs’ claims. In Judge Young’s ruling, he said there are several “prudential reasons” why the case should go to a jury. Last week, he also denied Defendants’ motions for a mistrial.
Plaintiffs are in their sixth week of trial centering on Defendants’ alleged efforts to delay generic Nexium from entering the market. This is the first pay-for-delay suit to go to trial since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Actavis decision. The case is expected to be submitted to the jury late next week.
For more about the Nexium case and Wexler Wallace’s role in the litigation, read the case summary here.