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Walgreen, Kroger, others sue Allergan over dry-eye drug Restasis

Four major U.S. retailers are suing Allergan PLC for allegedly violating antitrust laws by trying to stop rivals from selling generic copies of its dry-eye drug Restasis.

In a lawsuit filed May 16 in New York, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.'s Walgreen Co., Kroger Co., Albertsons Cos. Inc. and HEB Grocery Co. LP alleged that the pharmaceutical company maintained its monopoly in the market by getting invalid patents, suing generic competitors for the alleged infringement of those patents, and transferring the patents to a sovereign native American tribe to avoid legal scrutiny.

The retailers further alleged that the drugmaker's activities prevented generic Restasis to be in the U.S. market by May 2014. Currently, there are no approved generic versions of the drug in the country.

Restasis had global sales of about $1.47 billion in 2017.

Allergan did not immediately respond to S&P Global Market Intelligence's request for comment.