Opinion ID: 788070
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Plaintiffs' Claims Against Defendants

Text: 35 Plaintiffs sued ACIC/Brantford and Barr alleging that their secret exclusive dealing arrangement unfairly gave Barr exclusive access to the only available source of clathrate. They further assert that ACIC/Brantford repeatedly assured them that it would provide them with clathrate, and that because of those assurances they delayed taking steps to develop an alternative supply. These circumstances, plaintiffs insist, effectively delayed their entry into the generic warfarin sodium market for one year, and gave Barr a monopoly in this drug during that period. Plaintiffs declare that consumer prices were inflated during the exclusivity period and that Barr's lengthy monopoly gave it an unfair advantage as an entrenched first-mover, even after competitors eventually entered the market. 36 Plaintiffs further declare that the exclusive supply contract, coupled with the confidentiality agreement, amounted to a contract, combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade that violated § 1 of the Sherman Act and was, in effect, a conspiracy to monopolize in violation of § 2. They allege in addition an actual monopoly by Barr in the generic warfarin sodium market that violated § 2, and declare that ACIC/Brantford misused its monopoly in the clathrate market that likewise violated § 2. Finally, plaintiffs aver that the acquisition of ACIC/Brantford by Apotex — and via Apotex by Dr. Sherman — violated § 7 of the Clayton Act because the acquisition lessened competition or tended to create a monopoly in the generic warfarin sodium market.