Harrow Health CEO Mark Baum says he is grateful for a jury verdict requiring his company to pay Allergan only $48,500.

Baum, speaking by phone May 20, said he views Allergan’s lengthy legal challenge against Harrow as an attempt to put the San Diego-based company out of business at a time when it is seeing record sales of its ophthalmic compounded drugs.

Baum spoke extensively with Market Scope on the legal theory that Allergan was trying to use and the potential ramifications if Allergan had succeeded. He also described how Harrow is trying to change the business model for pharma, making drugs affordable and profitable at the same time.

Allergan, which sells US FDA approved ophthalmic drugs, including the dry eye drug Restasis, filed suit in 2017 against Imprimis Pharmaceuticals (now Harrow), claiming Imprimis’ false advertising for its ophthalmic compounding business was harming Allergan.

Allergan sought more than $7.2 million in lost profits and as much as $54 million in profit disgorgement.

The federal jury required Harrow to pay Allergan $48,500 in lost profit damages and nothing for disgorged profits. Jurors returned their verdict May 16 in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

Allergan did not respond to Market Scope’s repeated requests for comment on the verdict.

“Make no mistake, this is a massive victory for us,” Baum said. “When I say ‘us,’ I don’t mean Imprimis. I mean ‘us’ in the sense of our customers—ophthalmologists, optometrists, and their patients. Those are the people that we serve. Those are the people that our business is dedicated to serving.”

Market Scope’s interview with Baum appears in the June issue of Market Scope’s Ophthalmic Market Perspectives, available now.

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