BRIEF—$750 million settlement over alleged delay of Namenda competition, says Allergan

Allergan’s Forest Laboratories subsidiaries have agreed to pay $750 million to settle a lawsuit over Namenda (memantine), an off-patent treatment for moderate-to-severe dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease.

The Forest units were accused of attempting to delay competitors to Namenda in the USA by discontinuing a twice-daily version and then launching a daily formulation, prior to the arrival of generic competition in 2015.

This would have forced Namenda purchasers to pay for the original drug rather than switching to the generic, and it is these companies that will be paid the settlement, though Allergan stresses that the outcome is not an admission of guilt in the case, which was due to go to trial this month.