The suit, filed Aug. 21 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, alleges that the deal will drive up drug prices and should be stopped because it depends on banks receiving large amounts of government bailout money for financing.

The Marin plaintiffs in the suit are Paul Lofholm, owner of the Ross Valley Pharmacy in Larkspur and former president of the California Pharmacists Association; his wife, Rebecca Lofholm, owner of Golden Gate Pharmacy in San Rafael; and Tony Mavrantonis, the former owner of Jack's Drug Store in San Anselmo.

"Our concern is this will certainly create the largest pharmaceutical company in the world," Lofholm said. "The bottom line is consumers will end up paying more for drugs because of the combination of these drug companies."

Joan Campion, a spokeswoman for New York-based Pfizer, responded by e-mail. "I can tell you that we believe the suit is without merit," Campion wrote. She could not be reached for further comment.

The suit asserts that Pfizer and Wyeth offer a number of products that directly compete with each other. For example, Pfizer's antidepressant, Zoloft, competes with Wyeth's antidepressants, Effexor and Effexor XR; Pfizer's antibacterial, Zyvox, competes with Wyeth's antibacterial, Tygacil; and Pfizer's anti-neoplastic, Sutent, competes with Wyeth's

The merger will eliminate all competition between such products, the plaintiffs say.

Pfizer announced its plans in January to buy out Wyeth. Wyeth's shareholders have voted in favor of the acquisition, as have the boards of directors of both companies. Pfizer has said that it expects to complete the transaction by the end of this quarter.

According to the suit, Pfizer is the world's largest drug maker, and Wyeth, based in Madison, N.J., is the fourth-largest drug maker in the United States. If the merger is completed, the new combine will control approximately 40 percent of the manufacture and sale of prescription drugs in the United States, with the next highest competitor having approximately 13 percent, according to the lawsuit.

The suit quotes Pfizer's chief financial officer, Frank D'Amelio, as saying that Pfizer intends to use debt to finance $22.5 billion of the deal. Four of the five financial institutions providing the $22.5 billion - Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase - are recipients of major capital infusion under the U.S. Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program, the suit noted.

The suit alleges that the use of federal bailout funds for such a merger is inappropriate particularly because the buyout would result in the elimination of 22,000 jobs.

This isn't the first time these three Marin pharmacists have taken on the pharmaceutical industry. In 2003, the Lofholms and Mavrantonis were among more than a dozen pharmacists who filed a suit alleging price fixing by 16 large drug companies, including Pfizer and Wyeth.

The suit alleges the drug makers used "coercion, bribery, agreements restricting the importation of lower priced drugs from foreign counties into the United States and threats of termination aimed at transgressing wholesalers and pharmacists." The California Supreme Court has agreed to hear that case but has not yet said when it will take it up.

"We compete with Canadian pharmacies, and we're asking for the same prices that Canadian pharmacists get," Lofholm said, regarding that suit.

Contact Richard Halstead via e-mail at rhalstead@marinij.com