Eve-of-Trial $65M Settlement Preliminarily Approved in Novel Antitrust Class Action Against J&J Subsidiary Actelion Pharmaceuticals

Plaintiffs alleged that anticompetitive scheme forced Tracleer purchasers to pay higher prices and delayed market entry of less-costly generic versions of the drug

BALTIMORE, March 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the Court granted preliminary approval of a $65 million settlement in a certified antitrust class action alleging that Actelion Pharmaceuticals, now part of Johnson & Johnson, engaged in a scheme to prevent generic drug manufacturers from developing a less expensive generic version of its pulmonary arterial hypertension drug, Tracleer. The settlement was reached less than two weeks before a 25-day jury trial was set to begin on March 2, 2026.

The lawsuit, brought by Government Employees Health Association (GEHA), a not-for-profit provider of health benefits serving federal employees nationwide, claimed that Actelion blocked generic manufacturers from obtaining samples of Tracleer, knowing that the samples were a prerequisite to filing an application to market a generic version of the drug. GEHA alleged that Actelion not only refused to sell samples of Tracleer to generic manufacturers but also contractually blocked its prospective competitors from obtaining Tracleer samples from the only pharmacies that sold the product. As a result, GEHA alleged, Actelion effectively blocked every path generic manufacturers had to obtain samples of Tracleer. The alleged scheme was so successful that no generic product came to market for almost four years after the Tracleer patent expired, during which time Government Employees Health Association and other Third-Party Payors overpaid for the drug by over $100 million.

“On behalf of our client and the certified Class of unions, employers and other entities that pay for prescription benefits on behalf of millions of patients, we are very pleased with this settlement, which represents a substantial recovery — nearly fifty percent of our conservative single damages estimate. If the settlement receives final approval, it will deliver meaningful relief to the Class who purchased Tracleer and generic Tracleer, bringing well-deserved resolution after more than seven years of hard-fought litigation,” said Sharon Robertson, a partner at Cohen Milstein, Co-Lead Counsel for the Class and trial counsel for the plaintiffs.

Tracleer is the brand name for bosentan, a dual endothelin receptor antagonist used to treat pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). While PAH is a relatively rare disorder, it is chronic and potentially fatal. Symptoms of PAH include elevated blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs, which causes the heart to work harder than normal. It affects between 10,000 and 20,000 people in the U.S. — most of them women. At the time of the alleged scheme, Actelion was charging $75,000 per patient, per year for Tracleer.

Originally filed in 2018, the U.S. District Court of Maryland dismissed Government Employees Health Association v. Actelion Pharmaceuticals LTD the following year, ruling that the claims were barred by the applicable four-year statutes of limitations and that plaintiff lacked standing to pursue claims in the states in which it had not made purchases. However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit revived and remanded the case in 2021. The Fourth Circuit found that GEHA and other end-payor plaintiffs’ claims were not time-barred. The appellate court also held that the question of whether named plaintiffs could represent absent class members in states where they themselves had not made purchases was not a basis for dismissal. On September 6, 2024, the district court granted GEHA’s motion for class certification and denied Actelion’s motion for summary judgment, paving the way for the case to proceed to trial.

GEHA and the certified Third-Party Payor Class are represented by Sharon K. Robertson of Cohen Milstein and Thomas M. Sobol of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLC, as Co-Lead Counsel for the Class.

About Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, a premier U.S. plaintiffs’ law firm, with over 100 attorneys across eight offices, champions the causes of real people – workers, consumers, small business owners, investors, and whistleblowers – working to deliver corporate reforms and fair markets for the common good. For more information visit https://www.cohenmilstein.com

Contact: cohenmilstein@berlinrosen.com

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