Legal News

Stiffer Antitrust Enforcement Ahead at Justice?

By Dan Slater

Those who’d welcome harder trust-busters in Washington may get their wish.

The Obama administration has nominated Christine Varney, a former FTC member and Internet-law expert, as Justice Department antitrust chief. Varney (SUNY Albany, Georgetown Law) is a partner at Hogan & Hartson. A decade ago, as a lawyer Netscape, Varney, 53, helped persuade Justice officials to launch a successful antitrust case against Microsoft, notes the Journal. Here’s the WSJ story.

Jon Leibowitz, a current FTC member, is the leading candidate to head the commission but the decision isn’t final, people briefed on the deliberations told the Journal.

At the FTC, Leibowitz (U. of Wisconsin, NYU Law), 50, has reportedly supported its tough stance against alleged “pay for delay” tactics of brand-name and generic-drug makers. Such tactics involve a branded company paying a generic firm to delay a drug’s market entry. The practice has the effect of raising prescription drug prices.

For more on pay-for-delay, check out this February LB post on Cephalon’s challenge to an FTC lawsuit alleging that it bought off four rivals in order to protect the sales of its $800 million-a-year narcolepsy medicine Provigil.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 23, 2009 (boomark / email).