RALEIGH, N.C. (NCN News) — Attorney General Jeff Jackson and a group of 43 bipartisan attorneys general reached a $400 million settlement in principle with Sandoz Inc., a generic drug manufacturer, over drug price-fixing claims.
The settlement resolves allegations that Sandoz worked with competitors for years to illegally raise prices and limit competition on many generic prescription drugs. It also covers Sandoz’s affiliates for their participation in the alleged anticompetitive conduct and transferring assets to avoid liability.
As part of the settlement in principle, Sandoz will change its business practices to comply with antitrust laws.
“This drug company coordinated with its competitors to make you pay more for prescriptions,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “This is the sixth drug company we’ve held accountable for illegally raising prices, and we’re not done yet.”
Attorney General Jackson is prosecuting several antitrust cases against generic drugmakers and has already reached settlements with five companies totaling $96.5 million as part of these lawsuits.
The first case began in 2016 against Heritage and 17 other corporate defendants and two individuals and involved 15 generic drugs. Two former executives from Heritage Pharmaceuticals have since entered into settlement agreements and are cooperating.
The second case was filed in 2019 against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 20 of the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers, including 16 individual senior executives.
The third case was filed in 2020 against Sandoz Inc. and over 20 other corporate defendants and 10 individual defendants. It focuses on 80 topical generic drugs that account for billions of dollars of sales in the United States.
The cases are built on evidence from several cooperating witnesses, a massive document database of over 20 million documents, and millions of call records between over 600 sales and pricing representatives. Each case is looking at a different set of drugs and defendants. The evidence shows that executives from competing drug companies met during industry dinners, “girls’ nights out,” lunches, cocktail parties, and golf outings and communicated via frequent telephone calls, emails, and text messages. They worked together to discourage competition and raise prices and profits for everyone.
Attorney General Jackson is joined in reaching this settlement in principle by the Attorneys General of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.