Seroquel Antitrust Litigation

A federal court authorized the Notice because you have a right to know about all of your options under the proposed settlements. The Notice explains the lawsuit and the settlements, describes the Settlement Class Members whose rights may be affected by the settlements, and explains your legal rights and options. Note that you may have received the Notice in error; simply receiving the Notice does not mean that you definitively are a member of the Class. You may confirm that you are a member of the Class by reviewing the criteria set forth in FAQ 5 below. You may also call, email, or write to the Claims Administrator or lawyers in this lawsuit using the telephone numbers or addresses listed in FAQ 13 below.

The third-party payors who brought the lawsuit (the “Plaintiffs”) allege that AstraZeneca and Handa violated certain state antitrust and consumer protection laws by taking several actions to keep generic quetiapine fumarate ER (i.e., generic versions of Seroquel XR) off the market. This harmed competition and caused Settlement Class Members to overpay for 50 mg, 150 mg, 200 mg, and/or 300 mg strengths of brand Seroquel XR and generic quetiapine fumarate ER.

Plaintiffs further allege that AstraZeneca and Handa entered into an unlawful reverse payment agreement, in which AstraZeneca paid Handa, a company that developed and planned to manufacture generic quetiapine fumarate ER, to delay entering the U.S. market with its generic version of Seroquel XR. Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that Handa agreed to delay entry into the market in exchange for an agreement from AstraZeneca that it would not launch an authorized generic version of Seroquel XR for the first six months after Handa entered the market with its generic version of Seroquel XR.

Defendants deny these allegations, including that Plaintiffs or Class Members are entitled to damages or other relief.

There has been no determination by the Court or a jury that the allegations against Defendants have been proven or that, if proven, Defendants’ conduct caused harm to the Class. The Notice is not an expression of any opinion by the Court as to the legal claims against Defendants or their defenses. Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware is overseeing this class action and the settlements. The lawsuit is known as In re Seroquel XR (Extended Release Quetiapine Fumarate) Antitrust Litigation, Master Docket No. 20-cv-1076-CFC (D. Del.).

This lawsuit is not about the safety or efficacy of Seroquel XR or generic quetiapine fumarate ER, and the settlements do not involve any legal claims about the safety or efficacy of Seroquel XR or generic quetiapine fumarate ER.

In a class action lawsuit, one or more persons or entities called “class representatives” (here, Fraternal Order of Police, Miami Lodge 20, Insurance Trust Fund; Law Enforcement Health Benefits, Inc.; the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore; Welfare Plan of the International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 137, 137A, 137B, 137C, and 137R; the Uniformed Firefighters’ Association of Greater New York Security Benefit Fund and the Retired Firefighters’ Security Benefit Fund of the Uniformed Firefighters’ Association) sue on behalf of all others who have similar legal claims. Together, all these persons or entities make up the “Class” and are called “Settlement Class Members.”

In a class action lawsuit, one court and one case resolve the issues for all class members, except for those class members who exclude themselves (i.e., “opt out”) from the class.

A copy of the Court’s preliminary approval order certifying the Class may be found here.

The Court has not decided in favor of Plaintiffs, AstraZeneca, or Handa. Instead, after extensive negotiations and hard-fought litigation, Plaintiffs have agreed with AstraZeneca and Handa, respectively, to settle Plaintiffs’ legal claims against them. By settling, Plaintiffs, AstraZeneca, and Handa avoid the cost and risks of trial. The settlements, if approved by the Court, ensure that Class Members receive the benefits described in the Notice. The proposed settlements do not mean that any law was broken or that AstraZeneca or Handa did anything wrong. The parties believe the settlements are best for all Class Members.

You are a member of the Settlement Class if you:

Are an entity that, for consumption by its members, employees, insureds, participants, or beneficiaries, purchased, paid, and/or provided reimbursement for some or all of the purchase price of Seroquel XR or quetiapine fumarate ER 50 mg, 150 mg, 200 mg, and/or 300 mg tablets, other than for resale, in Arizona, Arkansas, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, or Wisconsin, at any time from September 5, 2015, through and until December 9, 2024.

Certain entities are not included in the Class, as set forth below.

Excluded from the Class are (1) Defendants and their subsidiaries and affiliates and (2) federal and state governmental entities.

Entities that submit a timely and valid exclusion request before February 24, 2025, as described in FAQ 10 below, also are excluded from the Class.

If you are not sure whether you are included in the Class or have questions about the settlements, you may contact the Claims Administrator at the telephone number, email address, or address listed in FAQ 7 below.

AstraZeneca has agreed to pay $5 million and Handa has agreed to pay $475,000 into an interest-bearing escrow account (the “Settlement Fund”) for the benefit of the Class. The Settlement Fund will be used for:

• Payments to eligible Class Members that submit a timely and valid Claim Form;
• Notice and administration costs and expenses;
• Service awards of up to $10,000 to the class representatives; and
• Attorneys’ fees of up to 33 1/3% of the Settlement Fund, plus costs and expenses.

In exchange, Plaintiffs’ lawsuit against AstraZeneca and Handa will be dismissed with prejudice, and AstraZeneca and Handa will be released by Class Members for the legal claims being resolved by these settlements. The full text of the releases are included in the settlements, which are available here.

To be eligible to receive a payment if the Court approves the settlements, all Class Members must complete and submit a timely and valid Claim Form. You can get a Claim Form here, by calling 1-888-884-8072, or by writing to the Claims Administrator at info@SeroquelXRAntitrustSettlement.com or the address below.

Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 5017
Portland, OR 97208-5017

A Claim Form must be received (if submitted online) or postmarked (if mailed to the address above) by June 9, 2025. All Claim Form submissions will be kept confidential.

You do not need to submit separate Claim Forms for each settlement.

At this time, it is unknown how much each entity that submits a timely and valid Claim Form will receive. Your share of the net Settlement Fund will depend on (1) the amount you purchased, paid, and/or reimbursed for 50 mg, 150 mg, 200 mg, and/or 300 mg tablets of Seroquel XR or generic quetiapine fumarate ER between September 5, 2015, and December 9, 2024; and (2) the total amount of purchases by other Class Members. All Class Members will receive their share of the net Settlement Fund in proportion to their eligible purchases. You are not responsible for calculating the amount you may be entitled to receive under the partial settlement. This calculation will be determined based on the information you provide on your Claim Form and the supporting documentation you submit.

The Court must approve the settlements, and any appeals of that decision must be resolved before any money can be distributed to Class Members. The Claims Administrator also must complete its processing of all Claim Forms and determine distribution amounts. This process can take several months. Please be patient.

If you decide that you do not want to be part of the AstraZeneca and/or Handa settlement(s), you may exclude yourself (i.e., “opt out”) from either or both settlement(s). To exclude yourself, you must email or send a letter to the Claims Administrator identifying the settlement(s) from which you are requesting exclusion stating that you want to exclude yourself from the AstraZeneca and/or Handa settlement(s), to info@SeroquelXRAntitrustSettlement.com or the following:

Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 5017
Portland, OR 97208-5017

Your email or letter must include (1) your full name, current mailing address, and telephone number; (2) a statement that you want to be excluded from the AstraZeneca and/or Handa settlement(s) (e.g., “I hereby request that I be excluded from the AstraZeneca and Handa Settlements in In re Seroquel XR (Extended Release Quetiapine Fumarate) Antitrust Litigation.”); and (3) your signature. You also must (4) submit data reflecting your purchases, payments, and/or reimbursements for 50 mg, 150 mg, 200 mg, and 300 mg strengths of Seroquel XR and generic quetiapine fumarate ER. NOTE: You must personally sign the letter attaching the data.

Your letter requesting exclusion must be postmarked (if mailed to the address above) or submitted (if sent by email) no later than February 24, 2025. This will be the only opportunity you will have to exclude yourself from the settlements to which you would otherwise be bound.

Group or class-wide exclusions will not be permitted. A request for exclusion must be submitted by each Class Member on an individual basis, and any request for exclusion by a purported authorized agent or representative of a Class Member must include proof of the representative’s legal authority and authorization to act and request exclusion on behalf of each Class Member they seek to opt out.

If you exclude yourself from the AstraZeneca and/or Handa settlement(s) consistent with the foregoing instructions, you will not receive any benefits of the settlements from which you request exclusion; you will not be legally bound by anything that happens in the lawsuit between Plaintiffs and the Defendant for that settlement; and you may be able to sue (or continue to sue) that Defendant in the future about the legal issues in this lawsuit. If you exclude yourself from the AstraZeneca and/or Handa settlement(s) so that you can start, or continue, your own lawsuit against AstraZeneca or Handa, you should talk to your own lawyer as soon as possible because, among other things, your legal claims will be subject to a statute of limitations, meaning your legal claims may expire if you do not take timely action.

No. If you do not exclude yourself from the AstraZeneca and/or Handa settlement(s) and the Court approves the settlements, you give up your right to sue AstraZeneca and/or Handa relating to the legal claims made in this lawsuit. The specific legal claims you are giving up against AstraZeneca are described in detail in Paragraphs 36 and 38 of the AstraZeneca Settlement Agreement and Paragraphs 35 and 37 of the Handa Settlement Agreement.

No. You will not get a payment from any settlement from which you exclude yourself.

If you are a Class Member, you can comment on or object to the AstraZeneca and/or Handa settlement(s) by filing an objection. You may tell the Court that you object, entirely or in part, to the AstraZeneca and/or Handa settlement(s). You cannot ask the Court to order different settlements; the Court can only approve or reject the settlements. If the Court rejects the settlements, no settlement payments will be sent out, and the lawsuit against AstraZeneca and Handa will continue. You may also ask the Court to speak in person at the Fairness Hearing described in FAQ 19 below.

Any objection to the settlements and/or requests to speak in person at the Fairness Hearing must be in writing. If you file a timely written objection, you may—but are not required to—appear at the Fairness Hearing. You may appear at the Fairness Hearing either personally or through your own lawyer. If you appear through your own lawyer, you are responsible for hiring and paying that lawyer.

All written objections and supporting papers and/or requests to speak in person at the Fairness Hearing must include the following:

• Your name, address, telephone number, and signature;
• A statement saying that you object to the AstraZeneca and/or Handa settlement(s);
• The case name and number: In re Seroquel XR (Extended Release Quetiapine Fumarate) Antitrust Litigation, Master Docket No. 20-cv-1076-CFC (D. Del.);
• The name, address, and telephone number of any lawyer representing you in connection with your objection;
• An explanation of the position to be asserted and the grounds for the objection, including whether the objection applies to a subset of the Class to which you belong, or to the entire Class, any legal support for your objection, and copies of any supporting papers or briefs;
• A statement as to whether you intend to appear at the Fairness Hearing (discussed further in FAQ 19 through FAQ 21 below), either with or without a lawyer, and the identities of any lawyer who will appear on your behalf at the Fairness Hearing;
• A list of all other objections submitted by you, or your lawyer, to any class action settlements submitted in any court in the United States in the previous five (5) years, including the full case name, the jurisdiction in which it was filed, and the docket numbers (or a statement that there are no such objections); and
• Documentation demonstrating that you are a member of the Class and/or this statement, followed by your signature: “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that [insert your name] is a member of the Class.”

You must either (1) file your comment or objection, together with any supporting briefs and/or documents, with the Court in person or via the Court’s electronic mailing system by February 24, 2025; or (2) mail your comment or objection to the Court, and mail copies of your comment or objection to Class Counsel, Counsel for AstraZeneca, and Counsel for Handa. All comments and objections must be postmarked by February 24, 2025, to the addresses in the table below.

Any lawyer representing a Class Member for the purpose of making comments or objections must also file a Notice of Appearance with the Court using the Court’s Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system.

You may file a Claim Form even if you object to or comment on the settlements. Whether or not you object, you must still file a Claim Form by the deadline in FAQ 7 above to receive money from the settlements.

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you do not like something about the settlements. You can object to a settlement only if you do not exclude yourself from that settlement. If you object to the AstraZeneca and/or Handa settlement(s), you still are a Class Member, and you can submit a Claim Form.

Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be a part of the settlement(s). If you exclude yourself from both settlements, you cannot receive a payment from the settlements. You also will have no basis to object to the settlements, and you will not be able to appear at the Fairness Hearing (discussed further in FAQ 19 through FAQ 21 below), because they no longer affect you.

If you are a Class Member and you do nothing, you will remain in the Class, but you will not receive any money from the settlements. You will be legally bound by the Court’s orders, and you will not be able to sue AstraZeneca or Handa on your own for the legal claims in this lawsuit. To be eligible to receive payment under the settlements, you must complete, sign, and return the Claim Form as described in FAQ 7 above.

Yes. The Court has appointed the law firms listed below to represent you and the other Class Members. These lawyers are called “Class Counsel.” Class Counsel are experienced in handling similar lawsuits against other companies. Class Counsel include:

Class Counsel
Robert G. Eisler Grant & Eisenhofer P.A. 123 Justison Street Wilmington, DE 19801  reisler@gelaw.com	Sharon K. Robertson Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC 88 Pine Street 14th Floor New York, NY 10005  srobertson@cohenmilstein.com	Natalie Finkelman Bennett Miller Shah LLP 1845 Walnut Street Suite 806 Philadelphia, PA 19103  nfinkelman@millershah.com

You will not be personally charged for the services of these lawyers in litigating this lawsuit. If you want to be represented by another lawyer, you can hire one at your own expense.

You do not need to hire your own lawyer because the lawyers appointed by the Court are working on your behalf. If you so desire, you may hire a lawyer and enter an appearance through your lawyer at your own expense.

Class Counsel have not been paid anything to date for any of their work on this lawsuit. If the Court approves the settlements, Class Counsel will ask the Court for an award of attorneys’ fees of up to 33 1/3% of the Settlement Fund, plus costs and litigation expenses. Class Counsel will also ask for service awards of up to $10,000 to be paid to each class representative for their efforts to date on behalf of the Class. If the Court grants Class Counsel’s requests, these amounts will be paid out of the Settlement Fund. You will not have to pay these fees, costs, or expenses out of your own pocket.

Class Counsel’s request for an award of attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of costs and expenses and for service awards for the class representatives will be filed with the Court and made available for download or viewing, on or before March 28, 2025, on this website or on the Court docket for this lawsuit, for a fee, through the Court’s Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system. You can tell the Court you do not agree with Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses, or the request for service awards for the class representatives, by filing an objection as described in FAQ 13 above.

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing at 9:00 a.m. on April 24, 2025, in Courtroom 4B of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building, 844 N. King Street, Wilmington, DE 19801. The date and time of the hearing is subject to change. Notice of such change will be posted on this website.

At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the settlements with AstraZeneca and Handa are fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there are objections, the Court will consider them and will listen to people who have asked to speak at the Fairness Hearing. The Court also may decide whether to award attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses, as well as service awards to the class representatives. After the Fairness Hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlements. We do not know how long these decisions will take.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have at the Fairness Hearing. But you are welcome to come at your own expense. If you submit an objection as described in FAQ 13 above, you do not have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as you file or mail your written objection on time, the Court will consider it. You also may pay your own lawyer to attend, but it is not necessary. Attendance at the Fairness Hearing is not necessary to receive a share of the net Settlement Fund.

Yes. You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing, either personally or through your own lawyer. To do so, you must send a letter stating that it is your “Notice of Intention to Appear at the Fairness Hearing in In re Seroquel XR (Extended Release Quetiapine Fumarate) Antitrust Litigation, Master Docket No. 20-cv-1076-CFC (D. Del.).” Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, and your signature, along with copies of any papers, exhibits, or other evidence and the identities of all witnesses you intend to present to the Court in connection with the Fairness Hearing. Your Notice of Intention to Appear must be postmarked no later than February 24, 2025, and must be emailed or sent to the addresses listed in FAQ 13 above.

If you appear through your own lawyer, you are responsible for paying that lawyer.

The Notice is only a summary. More details are in the Settlement Agreements. Relevant decisions and orders and additional information about this lawsuit are also available here. You also may contact the Claims Administrator by mail at Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 5017, Portland, OR 97208-5017, by email at info@SeroquelXRAntitrustSettlement.com, or by phone at 1-888-884-8072.

Complete copies of all public pleadings, Court rulings, and other filings are available for review by accessing the Court docket for this lawsuit, for a fee, through the Court’s Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE TO INQUIRE ABOUT THIS CASE.