But some claims were left standing — namely that Pfizer violated antitrust law by paying off generic competitor Ranbaxy to delay entry under the guise of settling a patent suit, forcing the plaintiffs to pay as much as five times more for the brand-name drug.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridan in Trenton came on a motion to dismiss claims by direct purchasers — including Walgreens, Safeway, Kroger and Value Drug Co. — consolidated in In re Lipitor Antitrust Litigation.