Drugmaker settles EpiPen antitrust litigation for $264M

U.S. health care company Viatris, formerly known as Myland, on Monday announced it had agreed to pay $264 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over the pricing of EpiPens.

The agreement, which must still be approved by the court, would seek to resolve the class action lawsuit that accused Viatris of taking advantage of its monopoly on EpiPen Auto-Injectors and raising the cost to “exorbitant prices.”

EpiPens are manufactured by two subsidiaries of Pfizer, King Pharmaceuticals and Meridian Medical Technologies, and sold in the U.S. by Viatris.

Viatris would admit to no wrongdoing if this agreement is approved.

“The Company maintains that it acted lawfully and pro-competitively and the settlement contains no admission of liability,” Viatris said in its quarterly earnings report. “The Board of Directors believes that this settlement is in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholders.”

In 2016, the price of two EpiPens was raised to $608, an increase of about 600 percent from 2007. Plaintiffs argued that this price increase was driven not by external factors like conditions or supply shortages, but by “unaccountable executives and companies who sought to profit off of human misery and fear.”

Last year, Pfizer and its subsidiaries agreed to pay $345 million to settle lawsuit on EpiPen pricing. As part of its settlement, Pfizer also denied any wrongdoing and said it believed its “actions were appropriate.”