Sandoz, a subsidiary of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG, has agreed to pay US$195 million to avoid trial on charges it conspired to fix the prices of generic drugs, US prosecutors announced on Monday.
The US Department of Justice last year accused Sandoz along with 19 other companies of colluding to artificially inflate the price of about 100 treatments, ranging from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory to drugs for a wide range of diseases.
The price of the treatments multiplied by as much as 10 times, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Connecticut.
“The company agreed to pay a US$195 million criminal penalty and admitted that its sales affected by the charged conspiracies exceeded US$500 million,” the department said in a statement, adding that the misconduct occurred between 2013 and 2015.
“Under the deferred prosecution agreement, Sandoz has agreed to cooperate fully” with the ongoing criminal investigation, it said.
Former Sandoz executive Hector Armando Kellum has pleaded guilty to unspecified charges stemming from the investigation, the department said.
Sandoz had rejected the charges at the time, but on Monday issued a statement admitting “misconduct.”
“We take seriously our compliance with antitrust laws, and in reaching today’s resolution we are not only resolving historical issues, but also underscoring our commitment to continually improving our compliance and training programs, and evolving our controls,” Sandoz president Carol Lynch said.
“We are disappointed that this misconduct occurred in the face of our clear antitrust compliance policies and multiple trainings — and in full contravention of the company’s values,” she said. “Individuals implicated in the underlying conduct are no longer employed by the company.”
Sandoz said it was also negotiating with the department’s civil division to resolve “potential related claims,” and has put aside US$185 million for that.
Other companies accused in the complaint were Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and US-based Mylan Laboratories Inc.
The department said that two other unnamed companies charged in the investigation had reached agreements with prosecutors similar to that accorded to Sandoz, in which prosecution was suspended in exchange for cooperation.
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