In a pivotal stride against pharmaceutical industry malpractice, the U.S. Department of Justice, alongside federal partners, achieved deferred prosecution agreements with Teva Pharmaceuticals and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, curbing price-fixing and fostering fair competition. The agreements are part of the resolution of criminal antitrust charges against the companies, related to conspiracies that affected the prices of essential medicines such as pravastatin, clotrimazole and tobramycin, according to an Aug. 21 news release.
"Today, the Antitrust Division and our law enforcement partners hold two more pharmaceutical companies accountable for raising prices of essential medicines and depriving Americans of affordable access to prescription drugs," Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, said in the release.
"The resolutions include extraordinary remedial measures that require the breakup of assets and restore competition to the industry," Kanter added, according to the release. "Companies in heavily regulated industries are on notice that the division will not hesitate to hold them accountable and will not tolerate recidivism."
The agreements follow a multi-year investigation that unveiled price-fixing, bid-rigging and market-allocation schemes affecting many generic medicines. With the resolution of the charges against Teva and Glenmark, seven generic pharmaceutical companies have collectively agreed to pay more than $681 million in criminal penalties, the release reported.
The details outlined in the release include Glenmark's previous charge in June 2020 and the subsequent grand jury indictment against both Glenmark and Teva in August 2020. It also highlights that, as part of the agreements, the parties filed joint motions to defer prosecution and trial on the filed charges for the three-year terms of the agreements or until after the criminal penalties are paid.
"The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, in collaboration with other federal law enforcement agencies, has achieved a significant victory through the recent settlement agreement in the ongoing battle against price-fixing and collusion," Executive Special Agent in Charge Kenneth Cleevely, of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, said in the release.
