North China Pharmaceutical Group Wins Retrial in Landmark U.S. Antitrust Case Over Vitamin C
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According to Xinhua News Agency, reporters learned at a press conference hosted by North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp. (NCPC) on August 13 regarding the "Latest Ruling in the First U.S. Antitrust Case Against China" that, after nearly 17 years, NCPC has prevailed in the retrial of the U.S. antitrust litigation over Vitamin C initiated against China.
On August 10, U.S. local time, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit once again vacated the 2013 trial judgment of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which ordered Hebei Weierkang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and its parent company, North China Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., to pay $153 million in treble damages to direct purchaser plaintiffs, on the grounds of violating the principle of international comity, and remanded the case with instructions to the district court to dismiss the plaintiffs' complaint with prejudice.
It is reported that the case originated in January 2005, when certain U.S. purchasers filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court against four major Chinese vitamin C manufacturers, including Hebei Weierkang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., alleging price-fixing conspiracy and monopolization, and sought 1.57 billion RMB in damages.
Due to various factors, the other three defendants, excluding Hebei Weikang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and its parent company North China Pharmaceutical Group, agreed to a settlement, while Hebei Weikang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. lost the first-instance trial. To safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, Hebei Weikang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. filed an appeal and secured a favorable ruling in the second instance in September 2016.
Subsequently, dissatisfied with the judgment, the plaintiffs petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to remand the case to the original appellate court for a new trial. On March 17, 2021, local time, the appellate court reconvened to hear the case, and on August 10, the retrial verdict was delivered, ruling in favor of North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp. After nearly 17 years and traversing first-instance, second-instance, Supreme Court review, and retrial proceedings, the vitamin C antitrust case finally concluded in victory.