S-P settles Clarinex suit
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Schering-Plough agrees to pay $165 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that news reports indicate is related to the firm's alleged failure to disclose information about the FDA review of the prescription allergy product. In a Feb. 27 posting on its Web site, Schering says the settlement was preliminarily approved by a federal court in Newark, N.J., and a final approval hearing is slated for June 1. The firm's online statement does not identify the subject of the settlement, but states the amount. Investors involved in the litigation said the company failed to disclose manufacturing problems that blocked the approval of Clarinex and led to a 2002 FDA consent decree against Schering (1"The Tan Sheet" Jan. 10, 2005, p. 5). Clarinex (desloratadine) has been mentioned as a potential OTC switch candidate (2"The Tan Sheet" Feb. 5, 2007, p. 4)