AstraZeneca unit sued over alleged monopoly on blockbuster drug Soliris

ReutersApr 17, 2025 9:52 AM

By Blake Brittain

April 16 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's AZN.L Alexion Pharmaceuticals was sued in Massachusetts federal court on Wednesday in a class action complaint alleging it misused its patents to extend its monopoly on its blockbuster blood-disease drug Soliris.

Health plan EmblemHealth said in the complaint that Alexion wrongly obtained new patents to block biosimilar versions of Soliris for four years after its patents on the drug should have expired. Alexion is wholly owned by AstraZeneca.

EmblemHealth said the alleged scheme violated U.S. antitrust law and could cause overpayments of more than $2 billion for Soliris.

AstraZeneca declined to comment.

"We are concerned about practices that shut down competition and increase drug costs. That's what this litigation is about," an EmblemHealth spokesperson said.

EmblemHealth is seeking to represent a class of U.S. Soliris buyers in the lawsuit.

Soliris is used to treat rare blood disorders. AstraZeneca earned more than $1.4 billion from sales of the drug in the first half of 2024, according to a company report.

EmblemHealth said in the lawsuit that AstraZeneca charges "one of the single highest drug costs in U.S. history" for Soliris, which costs "upwards of $500,000 per patient per year."

AstraZeneca's patents covering Soliris should have expired in 2021, but the company misled the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to obtain more patents with expiration dates "well into the future," EmblemHealth alleged in the complaint. It also alleged that AstraZeneca used the new patents to "extract settlements" from competitors and delay their biosimilars until March 2025 at the earliest.

EmblemHealth asked the court for an order ending AstraZeneca's monopoly on Soliris and an unspecified amount of monetary damages.

The case is EmblemHealth Inc v. Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No. 1:25-cv-10985.

For EmblemHealth: Thomas Sobol and Gregory Arnold of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro; and Mark Fischer and Rob Griffith of Rawlings & Associates

For AstraZeneca: not yet available

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