WASHINGTON (AP) – Generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals agreed Monday to pay the company $225 million. Settle a fixed price fee Related to marketing of major cholesterol-lowering drugs. The U.S. Department of Justice said the deal also calls for Teva to sell its manufacturing and marketing business of pravastatin, a generic version of the branded drug Pravachol.
Another generic drug maker, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, agreed to pay $30 million in criminal penalties and also sell its pravastatin business.
In a statement, Israel-based Teva’s U.S. subsidiary said: blamed a former employee The employee left in 2016, Teva said, because of an agreement that restricted competition with Teva’s competitors from 2013 to 2015.
The Justice Department has accused seven generic drug makers, including Teva and Glenmark, of price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation schemes. Seven companies settled their lawsuits through deferred prosecution agreements. Had either case gone to trial, a guilty verdict could have forced a ban from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs.
The companies jointly agreed to pay $681 million in fines in addition to other fines.
