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Bristol-Myers Squibb admits it lied about patents

"BMS is charged with both lying to the federal government and with taking steps to conceal its false statement, both serious felonies."

Thomas Barnett, US Justice Department's antitrust division

Bristol-Myers Squibb agreed to plead guilty and pay a US$1 million criminal fine for lying to the government about a patent deal on its popular blood-thinning drug Plaix, officials said on Wednesday.

The Justice Department said in a statement that the pharmaceutical giant's actions had threatened to reduce competition for the drug, one of the biggest prescription medications sold worldwide.

"BMS is charged with both lying to the federal government and with taking steps to conceal its false statement, both serious felonies," said Thomas Barnett, who runs the department's Antitrust Division.

The drugmaker said last month that it had reached a preliminary agreement with the government and said it was seeking to more forward to put the matter behind it.

Government investigators alleged that a former senior Bristol Myers executive had made "oral representations" to Canadian generic drug maker Apotex, which caused Apotex to conclude that Bristol Myers would not launch its own generic version of Plavix.

At the time, the two companies were locked in litigation over the validity of the patent for Plavix.

However, at the time Bristol Myers was subject to a so-called "consent decree" which meant it had to submit any patent settlements for review with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC had warned Bristol Myers that it would not approve a settlement of the Plavix litigation if it agreed not to launch its own generic version of the blood-thinning drug used by people affected by heart attacks, stroke and other ailments.

The Justice Department, however, said that Bristol Myers had concealed its representations to Apotex in a bid to "hide part of its agreement with Apotex."

The government said Bristol Myers had also lied to the government about the arrangement.

The US$1 million fine was the maximum penalty that could be applied against the firm.

Plavix, a blood-thinning treatment to prevent heart attacks, is a venture of Bristol Myers and French-based Sanofi-Aventis.

A generic version of Plavix took 60 percent of the market in the two weeks it was on the market before an injunction was issued.
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