Abbott, Novartis Accused of Collusion in Suit

Abbott Laboratories and a unit of Novartis are accused in a health-maintenance organization’s lawsuit of conspiring to keep a generic version of the high-blood pressure drug Hytrin off the market.

The suit by Oakland-based Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. comes two years after Novartis’ U.S. generic-drug unit, Geneva Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Abbott agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission claims of collusion over Hytrin. The hypertension and prostate drug has annual sales of about $700 million for Abbott.

Kaiser’s suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, accuses the two companies of unfair competition and restraint of trade. It seeks unspecified triple damages and disgorgement of profits.

“By unlawfully extending Abbott’s patent monopoly, defendants’ conduct cost Kaiser and other purchasers hundreds of millions of dollars in savings” had the generic version of Hytrin been made available in 1996 instead of 1999, according to the suit.

Officials at Abbott, based in Abbott Park, Ill., did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Officials of Broomfield, Colo.-based Geneva declined to comment, saying they had not seen the suit. Switzerland-based Novartis is Europe’s third-largest drug maker.

Abbott’s shares rose 43 cents to $52.84 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The suit says Abbott filed a patent-infringement suit against Geneva in 1995 after Geneva notified the Food and Drug Administration of its intent to sell a generic version of Hytrin. Abbott later agreed to pay Geneva “millions of dollars” to delay the release of its low-price alternative drug, the suit claims.