Celgene has backed out of a $55 million class action settlement it reached last summer when it was accused of blocking generic competition to its multiple myeloma drugs.
In late December, the drugmaker, now part of Bristol-Myers Squibb, backed out of the deal which would have paid the nearly 9,000 class members serving as plaintiffs. The lawsuit alleged that Celgene exploited the FDA's Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy as a way to block generic rivals from developing cheaper versions of Revlimid and Thalidomid.
A Bristol-Myers spokesperson told STAT that Celgene "exercised its right to terminate the settlement in light of the fact that numerous large third party-payers who were members of the settlement class refused to release their potential claims and participate in the settlement."
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