HALMAN ALDUBI PROVIDENT AND PENSION FUNDS LTD. v. TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED

District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided November 3, 2023·No. 2:20-cv-04660·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

HALMAN ALDUBI PROVIDENT AND CIVIL ACTION PENSION FUNDS LTD.,

Plaintiff, NO. 20-4660-KSM

v.

TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS INDUSTRIES LIMITED, et al.,

Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

Marston, J. November 3, 2023 Contents I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 II. Background ............................................................................................................................. 1 A. Teva’s Business ................................................................................................................ 1 B. Shared Solutions Program ................................................................................................ 2 C. The DOJ Subpoena........................................................................................................... 3 D. The DOJ Action ............................................................................................................... 4 III. Procedural History ............................................................................................................... 4 IV. Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 6 A. Legal Standard.................................................................................................................. 6 B. Class Definition and Ascertainability .............................................................................. 7 1. Overlap with Ontario Settlement Class ........................................................................ 8 2. Applicability of Morrison ........................................................................................... 15 C. Rule 23(a) ....................................................................................................................... 20 1. Numerosity ................................................................................................................. 21 2. Commonality .............................................................................................................. 22 3. Typicality .................................................................................................................... 22 4. Adequacy .................................................................................................................... 28 D. Rule 23(b) ....................................................................................................................... 34 1. Predominance ............................................................................................................. 35 2. Superiority .................................................................................................................. 54 V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 55 I. Introduction

Lead Plaintiff Gerald Forsythe, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, alleges that Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Limited (“Teva”) and Teva executives Erez Vigodman, Eyal Desheh, Robert Koremans, Michael Derkacz, Kåre Schultz, Michael McClellan, and Brendan O’Grady (collectively, the “Individual Defendants,” and together with Teva, “Defendants”) violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5 by making false and misleading statements and by failing to disclose material information about Teva’s specialty drug Copaxone. (Doc. No. 1.) Plaintiff also claims that the Individual Defendants violated Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act because they knew or recklessly disregarded that Teva was making materially false and misleading statements and material omissions. (Id. ¶¶ 249–254.) Presently before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion to Certify the Class. (Doc. No. 90.) For the reasons below, the Court grants the motion for class certification. II. Background

A. Teva’s Business1

Teva is a global pharmaceutical company that sells generics, specialty medicines, and over-the-counter products. (Doc. No. 64-2 ¶ 27.) Teva shares are dual-listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (“TASE”). (Doc. No. 90-1 at 12.) Shares purchased on the NYSE are American Depository Shares (“ADSs”), and shares purchased on the TASE are labeled “ordinary shares.” (Id.) Each ADS represents one ordinary

1 Because the Court has previously described the factual background extensively in several prior memoranda (see, e.g., Doc. No. 74), the Court will only briefly summarize it here. share. (Id.) One of Teva’s primary products is the specialty drug, Copaxone (glatiramer acetate injection), an injectable drug used to treat patients with multiple sclerosis. (Id. ¶ 28-29.) B. Shared Solutions Program

Teva sponsors “Shared Solutions,” a program designed to increase patient access to Copaxone. (Id. ¶ 41.) Through the program, Teva trains patients on how to inject the drug, offers patients injection devices to administer the drug, and assigns patients case managers who help patients secure insurance coverage for the drug. (Id.) In 2006, in connection with the Shared Solutions program, Teva contracted with Advanced Care Scripts, Inc. (“ACS”), a specialty pharmacy. (Id. ¶ 42.) Teva sent ACS prescriptions for patients participating in Shared Solutions who “either had or were eligible for Medicare Part D coverage.” (Id.) For the patients who did not already have Medicare Part D coverage, ACS assisted with the enrollment process. (Id.) And for the patients who already had Medicare Part D coverage and were eligible for co- pay coverage from a patient assistance program (“PAP”),2 ACS helped them apply to a PAP for

coverage. (Id.) Teva also provided free Copaxone to low- or no-income patients; however, if those patients were eligible for Medicare Part D, Teva sent those patients to ACS for assistance enrolling in Medicare Part D or applying for coverage from a PAP. (Doc. No. 57 ¶ 43.) ACS referred Teva’s Copaxone patients to two PAPs for co-pay assistance: the Chronic Disease Fund (“CDF”) and The Assistance Fund (“TAF”). (Id. ¶ 42.) Both CDF and TAF maintained funds dedicated to assisting multiple sclerosis patients, through which they “provided co-pay assistance to patients for, ostensibly, any of the [multiple sclerosis] drugs on the market.” (Id.) Teva regularly donated to both PAPs. (Id.) Under the applicable regulations,

2 A PAP is a charitable program that provides financial assistance to help patients cover Medicare Part D co-pays. (Doc. No. 57 ¶ 35.) pharmaceutical companies may donate to PAPs; however, “the funds received through donations must be applied generally to all beneficiaries, and it is illegal for a Charitable PAP to apply the funds received to any particular drug.” (Id. ¶ 35.) Teva allegedly ran afoul of those regulations. (Id. ¶ 48.) Teva did not intend its

donations to CDF and TAF to cover co-payments for multiple sclerosis treatments generally; rather, it intended for its donations to CDF and TAF to only cover patients’ co-pays on Copaxone. (Id.) Teva’s intentions bore out. (Id. ¶ 46.) For instance, in December 2009 and January 2010, Teva donated $15.7 million to TAF, “approximately 99% of which was paid to Copaxone patients.” (Id.) In all, Teva donated tens of millions of dollars annually to CDF and TAF to fund Copaxone co-pays. (See id. ¶ 53 (indicating that Teva made the following donations to CDF and TAF: $36,934,678 in 2012, $36,932,589 in 2013, and $34,774,070 in 2014).) Copaxone patients receiving Medicare co-pay assistance from CDF and TAF made up roughly 27% of patients on Copaxone. (Id.

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HALMAN ALDUBI PROVIDENT AND PENSION FUNDS LTD. v. TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED, (E.D. Pa. 2023).

HALMAN ALDUBI PROVIDENT AND PENSION FUNDS LTD. v. TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED (HALMAN ALDUBI PROVIDENT AND PENSION FUNDS LTD. v. TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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