CURRENT ROLE
Partner & Management Committee Member, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
Court-appointed lead counsel for the proposed class of direct purchasers in multidistrict litigation alleging that brand company Merck and generic company Glenmark struck an anticompetitive pay-for-delay agreement to resolve patent-infringement litigation over the drug Zetia. In re Zetia Antitrust Litigation, 2:18-md-2836, E.D. Va., ECF No. 105
Member of the HBSS team litigating antitrust claims on behalf of a proposed class of direct purchasers of brand and generic Glumetza. The class alleges that generic company Lupin agreed to delay its launch of a generic form of Valeant’s extended-release metformin product in exchange for Valeant’s promise not to launch a competing generic product. In re Glumetza Antitrust Litigation, 3:19-cv-05822, N.D. Cal.
Member of the HBSS team litigating RICO and antitrust claims against Ranbaxy, alleging that Ranbaxy fraudulently obtained a series of 180-day exclusivities that blocked generic versions of Diovan, Nexium, and Valcyte from coming to market for years. In re: Ranbaxy Generic Drug Application Antitrust Litigation, 1:19-md-02878, D. Mass.
Instrumental in new case investigation work directed to combating waste, fraud, and pricing abuse in the pharmaceutical industry.
RECENT SUCCESS
Served as court-appointed Interim lead/liaison class counsel for the proposed direct purchaser class and helped negotiate a $51.25 million settlement with defendant, Allergan in In re Restasis Antitrust Litigation. The settlement has been approved by the Court and is awaiting distribution. This multidistrict litigation alleged that Allergan engaged in an anticompetitive scheme including abuse of the FDA’s petitioning process to delay generic versions of Restasis from coming to market. In re Restasis (Cyclosporine Opthalmic Emulsion) Antitrust Litigation (E.D.N.Y, 18-md-2819, Gershon J.
The First Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of antitrust litigation premised on wrongfully listing patents covering insulin injector pens in FDA’s Orange Book. In re Lantus Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litigation, 18-cv-2086, 1st Cir., Feb. 13, 2020.
Directed HBSS’s litigation efforts, as co-lead counsel for the certified class of direct purchasers, and ran the patent team through the run up to trial in In re Loestrin 24 Fe Antitrust Litigation. The parties have reached a proposed $120 million settlement shortly before trial. In re Loestrin 24 Fe Antitrust Litigation, 1:13-md-02472, D.R.I., ECF Nos. 10, 1050.
LEGAL ACTIVITIES
Public Justice, Class Action Preservation Committee
American Association for Justice
RECOGNITION
In 2014 and 2015, the National Law Journal honored Ms. Johnson as one of Boston’s Rising Stars, one of 40 outstanding lawyers under 40.
In 2011, Public Justice nominated Ms. Johnson and the rest of the Neurontin trial team for Trial Lawyer of the Year for their work in securing a $142 million verdict against Pfizer for suppressing and manipulating the results of scientific studies that showed Neurontin did not work to treat the off-label indications Pfizer was heavily promoting.
NOTABLE CASES
$94 million settlement for the certified class of direct purchasers in antitrust case alleging Pfizer obtained reissuance of a follow-on patent by defrauding the Patent and Trademark Office in In re Celebrex (Celecoxib) Antitrust Litigation, 2:13-cv-361, E.D. Va., ECF Nos. 64, 455 (court-appointed co-lead counsel).
$98 million settlement for the direct purchaser class in antitrust case alleging Astellas delayed generic entry of transplant antirejection drug Prograf by abusing the FDA’s petitioning process in In re Prograf Antitrust Litigation, D. Mass., MDL No. 2242 (team member).
Personally appointed alternate lead counsel in the In re New England Compounding Pharmacy Litigation Multidistrict Litigation, 12-md-2419, D. Mass. During the nascent stages of the MDL, the court personally appointed Ms. Johnson liaison counsel to speak for the hundreds of victims who contracted fungal meningitis or suffered other serious health problems as a result of receiving contaminated products made and sold by NECC. This case resulted in a $189+ million settlement on behalf of tort victims.
Member of the trial team that achieved a $142 million civil RICO verdict against Pfizer for suppressing and manipulating results of scientific studies concerning the drug Neurontin. Post-trial, the third-party payer class settled with Pfizer for an additional $325 million. In re Neurontin Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, D. Mass., MDL No. 1629.
$150 million settlement for the direct purchaser class in antitrust case alleging GSK submitted baseless petition to FDA in order to delay FDA’s approvals of generic versions of Flonase. In re Flonase Antitrust Litigation, E.D. Pa., 08-cv-3149 (team member).
PERSONAL INSIGHT
Ms. Johnson grew up in a family law practice (they literally turned a closet into a playroom) in Canfield, Ohio. Her grandfather, uncle, father, brother and sister are all lawyers, all practice together, and her mother runs the law office. Ms. Johnson’s career choice was perhaps inevitable, though her departure for Boston makes her a bit of a black sheep.
RELATED CASES
Allergan Restasis Antitrust
Celebrex Antitrust
Flonase Antitrust
Glumetza
Lantus (Insulin Glargine) Antitrust
Loestrin 24
Meningitis
Prograf Antitrust
Ranbaxy Inc.
Zetia Antitrust
RELATED CASES
ALL CASES
Ranbaxy Inc.
Hagens Berman seeks to represent a nationwide class of direct purchasers who suffered from defendants’ fraudulent and anticompetitive conduct that delayed the entry of generic drugs into the U.S. market.
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