Long time readers know my disdain for Nexium. The drug is outrageously expensive and no more effective than its predecessor Prilosec. It warms my heart to read about this suit – U.S. Retailers Sue AstraZeneca Over Nexium Strategy

The suit claimed AstraZeneca’s strategy has forced the retailers to pay artificially inflated, monopoly prices for the branded version of the drug, known generically as omeprazole. Nexium is also known as esomeprazole.

The lawsuit says AstraZeneca has maintained 70 percent share of the market and blames exclusionary tactics that it says inhibited the sale of generic and over-the-counter competitors.

AstraZeneca devised a strategy in anticipation of the expiration of the Prilosec patents, known as the Shark Fin Project, to preserve its market position, according to the suit.

At the same time, the lawsuit claims AstraZeneca effectively withdrew Prilosec from the market. The company got approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell it over-the-counter causing some insurers to stop providing coverage for generic Prilosec.

The costly product-switching strategy “made no economic sense absent its effect of impairing generic competition for Prilosec,” the lawsuit contends.

Sweet!