Greenberg Traurig Alert-Second Circuit Invites Petition for In Banc Review in Reverse Payment Case

In a per curiam decision issued on April 29, 2010, a Second Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled in Arkansas Carpenters Health & Welfare Fund v. Bayer AG ("Cipro"),1 that Bayer AG, the manufacturer of the branded antibiotic Cipro, and four drug manufacturers seeking regulatory approval to market a generic version of the drug did not violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act when they settled Bayer's patent infringement suit, in part by agreeing to a so-called "reverse payment." Specifically, under the settlement arrangement, also called a "pay for delay" agreement by some observers, the four generic manufacturers agreed not to enter their generic products into the market for more than six of the remaining seven years of the Cipro patent in return for more than $350 million in total payments by Bayer.

Please click on link at the top of the post to view or download the entire article.