CVS Caremark Corporation, Rite Aid Sue Pfizer Inc. Over Depression Drug

CVS Caremark Corp and Rite Aid Corp filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Pfizer Inc and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd of conspiring to keep generic versions of the popular antidepressant Effexor XR off store shelves. The lawsuit escalates court battles over alleged delays in the launching of generic versions of Effexor XR. It comes just six months after several other large retailers filed an antitrust lawsuit making similar claims. In a complaint filed Tuesday with the federal court in Trenton, New Jersey, CVS and Rite Aid accused Pfizer's Wyeth unit of scheming to block generic versions of Effexor XR for at least two years after its marketing rights to the original compound lapsed in June 2008.

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