American Sales Co. files suit against Biovail and GSK

BOSTON American Sales Co. filed a lawsuit in Boston Federal court against Canada’s Biovail Corp and Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline for violating antitrust laws, according to published reports.

American Sales, a drug company based in Erie, N.Y., has claimed that both Biovail and GSK filed patent-infringement lawsuits with U.S. regulatory authorities that were “baseless,” to block the sale of the generic version of Wellbutrin XL to enter the market.

American Sales also charged that GSK and Biovail, “engaged in sham litigation and petitioning and entered into anti-competitive agreements to improperly maintain their monopoly profits.” 

Since generic drugs are usually less expensive than branded ones, the company felt that Biovail and Glaxo were trying to halt any generic competition by entering into agreements with developers in order to do so. The suit claims that the companies where in violation of the U.S. Sherman Act, and requests unspecified monetary damages.