Supreme Court to consider ‘pay for delay’ deals keeping generic drugs off the market

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether so-called pay for delay settlements that temporarily keep generic competitors out of the market are lawful in patent litigation, reports the ABA Journal. In “pay for delay” cases, brand-name drug companies pay a would-be generic competitor to drop a challenge of the brand-name patent and to keep the generic version of the drug off the market for a specified time period. The FTC maintains that such arrangements cost consumers $3.5 billion a year.