US: Endo joins FTC’s “back-door” challenge

On Friday, January 5, the Federal Trade Commission gave Endo Pharmaceuticals the go-ahead to weigh in on the government’s administrative proceeding against Impax Laboratories. The case alleges that a 2010 settlement between the companies allowing Endo to introduce a generic version of Impax’s Opana ER had no pro-competitive justifications.

Endo will be allowed to submit a brief opposing the government’s request for relief in its action against Impax that could potentially affect or nullify a second settlement reached between the two pharmaceutical companies in 2017.

The original complaint in 2012, accused Endo in 2012 of working a deal in which they compensated Watson Laboratories “hundreds of millions of dollars” to hold off a generic version of Endo’s Lidoderm patch.  It also accused Endo of paying Impax $112 million in 2010 to hold off releasing an authorized generic version of Endo’s painkiller Opana. The FTC alleged Endo’s financial gain by giving it time to transition patients to a new formulation of Opana ER, “thereby maintaining its monopoly power.”

Full Content: Federal Trade Commission and Global Competition Review

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