Allergan settles with New York over Memantine. Agrees to pay $170K for state’s litigation expenses

Allergan plc has agreed with the New York State Attorney General’s Office to end the litigation under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, and other statutes with the Attorney General over the decision of Forest Laboratories, Inc., announced in February 2014, to cease marketing and selling the generic version of memantine immediate release tablets.

Allergan revealed on Wednesday that under the terms of settlement, and Allergan admits no liability, that it has released its counterclaims against New York.

Furthermore, the company recently bought by Pfizer in a record breaking $160 billion deal to create the worlds largest pharmaceutical company, has agreed to make a payment of approximately $172,000 to the State of New York to help defray a portion of the state’s litigation expenses.

In addition, Allergan withdraws its petition for a writ of certiorari, filed in the Supreme Court of the United States, challenging the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York v. Actavis plc, No. 14-4624 (May 22, 2015).

“The settlement announced today ends this litigation, and ends the appellate proceedings at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Company believes that the novel and unprecedented legal holding in the Court’s decision is limited to the facts and findings in this particular case,” said Robert Bailey, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Allergan.

“We remain committed to clarifying the law in this area along the lines set forth in the Company’s petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States, which was filed on November 4, 2015, and we expect that there will be opportunities to do so in the future.”