DRL, Sun, Glenmark among 18 under US lens on price fixing complaint

As many as 12 more drug companies including Dr Reddys Sun Pharma and Glenmark are likely to face probe in addition to the six others following complaints of artificially inflating prices of generics according to Washington state Attorney GeneralAn official statement issued by Attorney General AG of Washington State Bob Ferguson yesterday said AGs of 45 other states along with him approached a federal court seeking to expand the pending complaint increase the number of drug companies under probe to 18 from 6 and the number of affected drugs to 15 from 2Representational PicThe states alleged that the companies violated antitrust laws to artificially inflate prices of the drugs and agreed to divide the market to reduce competition Some of the drugs even saw a jump in price by more than 1000 per centI hold powerful interests accountable when they dont play by the rules Ferguson said The drug companies are facing the charge of conspiring to fix prices and keeping them elevatedPreviously the suit named generic drug manufacturers Heritage Pharmaceuticals Aurobindo Pharma USA Citron Pharma Mayne Pharma USA Mylan Pharmaceuticals and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA as defendantsThe states are seeking to expand the complaint to include Actavis Holdco US Actavis Pharma Ascend Laboratories Apotex Corp Dr Reddys Laboratories DRL Emcure Pharmaceuticals Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Lannett Company Par Pharmaceutical Companies Sandoz Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Zydus Pharmaceuticals USADr Reddys said it is aware of the ongoing investigation by the US Department of Justice DoJ into this matter and the recent amended complaint issued by the Attorneys General of Connecticut and other statesThe company intends to continue cooperating fully with all authorities on this matter and as it is subjudice wish to refrain from further comment at this point in time Generic drugs which enter the market after a namebrand drug manufacturer loses its exclusive patent rights offer the prospects of lower prices and greater access to medicationFor drugs that attract a number of generic manufacturers competition can bring down the average price by 80 per cent or more compared to brandname alternatives As a result generics save consumers and the healthcare industry tens of billions of dollars annually the statement saidIn 2015 generic drug sales in the United States were estimated at USD 745 billion The generic pharmaceutical industry accounts for nearly 88 per cent of all prescriptions in the USIn July 2014 the state of Connecticut started a probe later joined by other states into suspicious price increase of certain generics by up to 1000 per cent or more the statement saidThe investigation found evidence of direct conversation between company officials and marketing and sales executives through inperson meetings phone calls text messages and emails spanning over several years in which they purportedly discussed efforts to fix and maintain prices allocate markets and reduce competition for a number of generic drugs it saidThe lawsuit also alleged that the companies knew their conduct was illegal as they often avoided communicating with each other in writing and in some instances intentionally deleted written communications and text messages the AG saidIn a statement Mylan said We have been investigating these allegations thoroughly and have found no evidence of price fixing on the part of Mylan or its employeesWe have asked the various attorneys general leading this case to share with us what information they believe supports these new allegations and to date they have not done soMylan has deep faith in the integrity of its President Rajiv Malik and stands behind him fully The drugmaker added Mylan takes its legal obligations seriously and operates with the highest levels of integrity and character Mylan expects to have no further comment while the matter is pendingComments from other companies were not immediately availableThe original complaint filed on December 14 2016 alleged that the companies entered into illegal conspiracies in order to unreasonably restrain trade artificially inflate and manipulate prices and reduce competition in the United States for two drugs doxycycline hyclate delayed release an antibiotic and glyburide an oral diabetes medicationThe lawsuit was filed under seal in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Portions of the complaint are edited in order to avoid compromising the states ongoing investigation the AGs statement addedAssistant Attorneys General Erica Koscher and Michael Hemker are handling the case In addition to Washington other states involved in the lawsuit include Connecticut Alaska Alabama Arkansas Colorado Delaware and the District of Columbia the statement said