Almost a year after originally proposing a $13.5 million settlement to end years of litigation relating to alleged insulin overpricing, Eli Lilly and plaintiffs in the nationwide class-action lawsuit have walked back the deal.
Attorneys on Friday inked a letter to New Jersey District Court Judge Brian Martinotti on behalf of the company and the plaintiffs, informing the court that the two are terminating the settlement agreement and therefore not going through with the associated preliminary approval process.
Along with the $13.5 million, the settlement agreement would have included a $35 out-of-pocket cap on monthly insulin costs for four years.
The move follows a recent ruling (PDF) in which the judge opted against certifying certain state-specific classes in the case. Fellow insulin makers Novo Nordisk and Sanofi are entangled in the same litigation.
According to Lilly, the decision “reaffirmed what Lilly has said all along: these insulin pricing suits lack merit,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
“While Lilly will continue to defend itself from these allegations, Lilly’s commitment to patients remains the same,” the spokesperson added, pointing to the company’s current average monthly out-of-pocket insulin price cap of $17.16.
A second filing requested that the court set Lilly’s deadline to respond to the plaintiff’s latest amended complaint to May 17 to match the deadline for co-defendants Novo and Sanofi.
When Lilly originally proposed the settlement, it wasn’t received with open arms by all. Nine states pushed against it in August, arguing the company was trying to leverage the deal in a “brazen attempt” to ward off future state lawsuits and urging the judge to delay approval until the agreement was altered to ensure states could still file their own cases.
Some states further filed arguments noting that the $35 out-of-pocket cap was already required by the Inflation Reduction Act, which sets the same cap for Medicare beneficiaries.
The case stems back to 2017, when plaintiffs first accused Lilly, Sanofi and Novo of engaging in an “insidious” pricing war resulting in “crushing” out-of-pocket costs and leaving many patients unable to afford the lifesaving meds.
The three companies have since slashed their insulin prices following governmental pressure.
In a related case brought forward by Minnesota’s former attorney general, Lilly earlier this year agreed to supply free and lower-priced insulin in the state for the next five years. Similar litigation against Novo and Sanofi is still ongoing in Minnesota.