As Biogen’s relentless patent defense for blockbuster multiple sclerosis med Tecfidera came up short in the U.S., the company separately worked to fend off competition through an anticompetitive kickbacks scheme, a multi-employer health benefit plan claimed in a new lawsuit.
According to the suit, which was filed Friday in Illinois federal court, Biogen initiated a “market switch” strategy a few years after launching Tecfidera to protect the lucrative med from competition.
Originally, the company's plan was to boost uptake of its newer and bioequivalent drug, Vumerity, well before generic versions of Tecfidera hit the market, according to the lawsuit from Local. No. 1 Health Fund.
But when Tecfidera generics launched sooner than expected, the drugmaker pivoted to using “unlawful, anticompetitive agreements” to support Tecfidera, according to the suit.
Illinois-based Local No. 1 claims the drugmaker paid the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) kickbacks to manipulate the placement of generic Tecfidera copies on their formularies and in effect unlawfully “restrain, suppress and eliminate” generic competition.
“Had Biogen not bribed the PBMs, the PBMs would have given generic Tecfidera more favorable placement on their formularies to promote the use of generic Tecfidera over the higher-cost Tecfidera and Vumerity,” the plaintiff’s lawyers explained in the complaint.
Biogen did not immediately respond to Fierce Pharma’s request for comment.
The company has vigorously fought to defend Tecfidera's intellectual property but suffered a key defeat in 2020. Biogen took its appeal all the way to the Supreme Court in 2022, but the mission fell flat when the court decided not to hear the case.
The patent loss left a significant mark on Tecdifera sales, which peaked at $4.4 billion in 2019. Last year, the med brought in around $1 billion in global sales. Biogen trimmed its multiple sclerosis sales team in the wake of the setback, the Boston Business Journal reported last year.
Biogen had better luck fending off generic competition in Europe, where Tecfidera has marketing protection through February 2025. The European Commission revoked marketing authorizations for generic versions after several patent rulings in favor of Biogen.