LOS ANGELES, United States, May 10, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US state Hawaii announced Friday it had accepted a $700 million settlement in its case against US pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and subsidiaries of French drug group Sanofi over the blood thinner Plavix.

The state alleged the companies misled consumers about the benefit of using the drug, in a case that has been in courts for more than a decade.

"This landmark settlement is a major victory for the state of Hawaii," governor Josh Green said.

"Once the money goes into our general fund, we can go to work on immediately identifying ways to enhance health care services for Hawaii's residents," he added.

BMS and Sanofi have agreed to pay equal shares of the settlement by June 9, bringing an end to 12 years of litigation, according to legal filings.

Per media reports, the pharma giants lost in court repeatedly and continually appealed. In 2021, a Hawaii court ordered the drugmakers to pay the state $834 million over their marketing claims, which the pharma giants vowed to appeal. In 2024, a Hawaii court again ordered them to pay the state $916 million, which they again vowed to appeal.

"It doesn't matter if a company is a one-person shop or a multi-billion-dollar oil company, we will relentlessly enforce Hawaii's consumer protection laws," Anne Lopez, the state's attorney general, said.
The state had pointed to results showing the treatment did not work well for some patients of Asian or Pacific Island descent who could not properly metabolize the drug.

Plavix, known as clopidogrel, is an anti-platelet medicine used to reduce the risk of heart attack or strokes.