WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission has urged a federal appeals court to preserve an antitrust lawsuit accusing Johnson & Johnson of unlawfully maintaining its monopoly over the blockbuster drug Stelara, arguing that plaintiffs should not have to prove a company specifically intended to harm competition to pursue monopolization claims.
The FTC filed an amicus brief in litigation brought by CareFirst of Maryland Inc., which alleges that Johnson & Johnson used the acquisition of Momenta Pharmaceuticals and subsequent patent enforcement to delay or block competition to Stelara, a treatment for psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other autoimmune disorders.
The agency argued that longstanding Supreme Court precedent focuses on whether conduct harms competition and consumers, rather than whether a company acted with a specific intent to suppress competition.
Requiring plaintiffs to prove an alleged monopolist intended anticompetitive consequences “would impede vigorous antitrust enforcement, undermine competition and harm American consumers,” the FTC wrote in its filing.
The case could have broader implications for antitrust enforcement in the pharmaceutical industry, where patent portfolios and acquisitions frequently face scrutiny for their potential to delay lower-cost alternatives and preserve market exclusivity.
Stelara has been one of Johnson & Johnson’s largest products and has generated billions of dollars in annual sales, making competition over the drug’s market exclusivity economically significant for insurers, patients and rival manufacturers.
CareFirst alleges that Johnson & Johnson’s acquisition of Momenta and subsequent assertion of patents enabled the company to maintain monopoly power in the market for ustekinumab, the active ingredient in Stelara.
The FTC filed the brief because of its “strong interest in ensuring the proper application of federal antitrust laws.”
The commission authorized the amicus filing in a 2-0 vote.
The agency framed the case as part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to promote competition in prescription drug markets as a means of lowering costs for consumers.
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