BCBSM, Inc. v. Vyera Pharmaceuticals, LLC et al.
On January 31, 2022, as court-appointed interim lead counsel, Robins Kaplan reached a settlement worth up to $28 million on behalf of indirect purchasers alleging that Martin Shkreli and his former companies illegally monopolized the market for Daraprim—a once-affordable, life-saving drug that increased in price by more than 4,000 percent under Shkreli’s leadership.
In March of 2021, Robins Kaplan filed the first—and only—private lawsuit in the country against Martin Shkreli and his former companies Vyera Pharmaceuticals and Phoenixus AG, as well as Vyera’s former CEO Kevin Mulleady. The firm filed suit on behalf of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota and a proposed class of health plans that purchased or provided reimbursement for Daraprim, the gold-standard treatment for toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can be fatal for people with compromised immune systems, like those with HIV/AIDS. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants endangered vulnerable patients and overcharged health plans by raising the price of Daraprim from $17.50 to $750 per pill while illegally blocking lower-cost generic versions.
The settlement, approved in June of 2022, provides up to $28 million for third-party payors who were allegedly overcharged because of defendants’ scheme, enjoins defendants’ anticompetitive conduct, and bars Shkreli from the pharmaceutical industry for life.
