Plaintiffs Oppose Dismissal in Suit Alleging Insulin Price-Fixing Scheme March 16, 2021 Calling the defendants’ claims supporting their motions to dismiss “throw away” arguments, the plaintiffs in a class-action alleging that multiple pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and drug manufacturers have been operating a kickback and insulin price-fixing scheme filed an opposition to the motions Monday in the District of Delaware. Plaintiffs FWK Holdings LLC and Professional Drug Company Inc. are the lead plaintiffs in the Nov. 6, 2020, first amended complaint (FAC) of a suit claiming that one group of defendants, the PBMs — which include CVS Health Corporation, UnitedHealth Group Inc., and Optum Inc., among others — solicited kickbacks from the manufacturer defendants — Eli Lilly and Company, Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, and Novo Nordisk Inc. — who paid the PBMs to include insulin drugs Levemir, NovoLog, Lantus, and Humalog on health plan providers’ “formularies.” The formularies “determine whether and to what extent the nation’s health benefit providers pay for their insureds to receive life sustaining insulins,” according to the FAC. The FAC further alleged that the defendants worked in concert to fix the insulin drugs’ prices at “supra-competitive levels,” all in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, Robinson-Patman Act, and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO).