Justice Roger Gyles

Pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb are liable for losses to the federal government for excess subsidies it allegedly paid for the blood-thinner Plavix after an unjustified court injunction prevented the release of a generic version of the top-selling drug, an appeals court has heard.

A court has dismissed a claim by the Australian Government for $325 million against pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb allegedly owed for excess subsidies it paid for blood-thinner Plavix as a result of an interlocutory injunction blocking a generic version of the blockbuster drug.