Court Dismisses DuPont Antitrust Suits

DuPont Co., the U.S.’ largest chemicals company, persuaded a federal judge to throw out antitrust suits alleging DuPont’s drug unit seeks to monopolize the market for blood-thinning drugs to help heart and stroke patients. U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson dismissed three suits consolidated in federal court in Wilmington, Del., that contended DuPont executives wrongfully attempted to block Food and Drug Administration approval of a generic version of DuPont’s blood thinner, Coumadin, to keep control of the market. Robinson also dismissed a large part of Pomona, N.Y.-based Barr Laboratories Inc.’s claim that DuPont’s pharmaceuticals unit violated antitrust laws by waging a campaign to convince doctors, hospitals and consumers the lower-cost generic blood thinner wasn’t safe, court papers show. On the NYSE, DuPont’s stock price fell 88 cents to close at $54.88, while Barr’s shares rose $1.75 to close at $47.