[Translated from E-Med, as it might be relevant for more countries where clopidogrel is used, and people of Asian decent live.
Copied as fair use in the public interest WB]
Sanofi affiliates and Bristol Myers Squibbs will pay Hawaii to close a dispute over the anticoagulant Plavix
Hawaii blamed laboratories for failing to report on the reduced effectiveness of the medicine for part of its population, including individuals of Asian descent and the Pacific islands.
Published on 10 May 2025 at 04:59, amended on 10 May 2025 at 07:31
The American pharmaceutical group Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and three subsidiaries of the French Sanofi laboratory in the United States will pay 700 million dollars (622 million euros) to Hawaai in order to settle a court dispute over its anticoagulant Plavix, the island state announced on Friday.
Hawaii had been pursuing companies for more than a decade, accusing them of failing to communicate the limits of the medicine’s effectiveness. According to the prosecution, studies indicated that the Plavix’s effectiveness was lower for about 30% of patients, especially for people of Asian descent and the Pacific Islands, who make up a significant proportion of the Hawaiian population.
The agreement provides that the USD 700 million will be paid equally by BMS and Sanofi, according to a statement from the Governor and Attorney General of Hawaii. Governor Josh Green called the deal a “major victory” for his state. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a small business or a multi-billion-dollar oil company, we will relentlessly enforce Hawaiian consumer protection laws,” added state Attorney General Anne Lopez in the statement.
The agreement extinguishes any remedy, after a long judicial soap opera, punctuated by a first trial, the judgement of which was partially quashed on appeal, and then a second trial at first instance. At the end of the war, in May 2024, a judge had ordered BMS and Sanofi’s subsidiaries to pay 916 million dollars to Hawaii. The magistrate then considered that the laboratories had deliberately “slowed down and reduced the research on the Plavix for more than a decade”. Both pharmaceutical companies had announced their intention to appeal.
Plavix, known as clopidogrel, is a blood thinner to reduce the risk of clotting in blood vessels by preventing platelets from clumping.