FTC and Minnesota Appeal the Lundbeck Decision

On October 28, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the State of Minnesota, Plaintiffs to the FTC v. Lundbeck, Inc. and Minnesota v. Lundbeck, Inc. filed a Joint Notice of Appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, from the August 31, 2010 judgment denying an injunction against Lundbeck's 2006 acquisition of Neoprofen, which allegedly competed with Lundbeck's Indocin for the treatment of a congenital heart defect in premature infants.
By relying only on doctors as the sole consumers of the drugs in dispute (Indocin and NeoProfen, pediatric heart drugs) and considering price as the sole competing factor, Judge Erickson from the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota ruled in favor of the defendants. The ruling states that Plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that products in dispute are in the same product market. The question for appeal is “whether the district court committed error in concluding that Indocin IV and NeoProfen were not in the same antitrust product market.” Read more about the background of the case and trial court's ruling.

Parva Fattahi
(202) 589-1834
pfattahi@dbmlawgroup.com