SandozSandoz to pay $265 million to settle US claims over generic drug price fixing

29 Feb 2024
Patent Infringement
Sandoz will pay $265 million to settle all claims against the company brought by a number of US states alleging both product-specific and industry-wide conspiracies to fix generic drug prices. The drugmaker said Thursday that the agreement, which contains no admission of wrongdoing, resolves all of the claims of the direct purchaser class against it and its Fougera Pharmaceuticals unit.
The settlement stems from an expanded lawsuit filed in 2019 by more than 40 states in the US accusing 20 generic drug manufacturers, as well as certain executives, of conspiring to artificially increase the prices of more than 100 treatments. Sandoz noted that the deal relates to its alleged conduct between 2009 and 2019, covering all medicines at issue in the direct purchaser class claims, which were consolidated in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
According to the company, the multi-district litigation has two remaining plaintiff classes, but they concern indirect and downstream purchases and damages claims under state law. Sandoz said that it continues to “defend itself vigorously” in those cases, and has raised a number of defences, including whether downstream purchasers were actually damaged due to the alleged conduct.
Sandoz and its former owner Novartis previously reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to pay a $195-million criminal penalty to resolve charges that they conspired to allocate customers, rig bids and fix prices for generic drugs. A subsequent deal saw Sandoz and Novartis agree to pay $185 million to the DOJ’s Civil Division to settle claims that stemmed from the same investigation.
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