Sharon Robertson

A Maryland federal judge refused Friday to toss an antitrust suit accusing Actelion Pharmaceuticals of illegally denying generics companies the samples they needed to produce generic versions of its hypertension drug Tracleer, while separately certifying a class composed of “hundreds” of insurers and self-funded employers. U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III issued two omnibus opinions Friday, including a sealed decision rejecting Actelion’s bid to nix the case on summary judgment.

Merck cannot strike class claims in antitrust litigation over its rotavirus vaccine, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Wednesday, while also allowing the city of Baltimore to eliminate redundancies in its complaint. U.S. District Judge Gerald A. McHugh disagreed with Merck’s position that there was no way to feasibly identify class members and that continued class certification proceedings would be burdensome.