Paris-based Sanofi on Monday filed a lawsuit against Mylan, alleging the drugmaker engaged in illegal behavior to prevent EpiPen competitors from hitting the market, reports Bloomberg.
Here are five things to know.
1. The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Trenton, N.J., claims Mylan's anticompetitive behavior caused Sanofi to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in sales from the competing epinephrine auto-injector, Auvi-Q.
"To preserve the monopoly position of their $1 billion crown jewel branded drug product, Mylan engaged in illegal conduct to squelch this nascent competition, harming both Sanofi and U.S. consumers," Sanofi's lawyers wrote in the suit.
2. Auvi-Q, developed by Kaleo, was recalled last February over dosing accuracy concerns. While Paris-based Sanofi had licensed and manufactured Auvi-Q, the company returned the rights to Kaleo after the recall. Kaleo reintroduced Auvi-Q back on the market in February.
3. Sanofi's suit focuses on a two-year period from 2013 to 2015, when the device competed with EpiPen in the U.S. market.
4. The lawsuit alleges Mylan executives provided "unprecedented" rebates to discourage the government, payers and pharmacy benefit managers from reimbursing patients for Auvi-Q. The suit also claims Mylan released misleading ads seeking to prevent physicians from prescribing Auvi-Q and made schools vow to use EpiPens exclusively before giving them discounts, reports Bloomberg.
5. Mylan spokeswoman Nina Devlin did not immediately return Bloomberg's request for comment.
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