US: Teva settles with FTC

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reached a settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries over charges that its agreements with rivals impeded consumer access to lower-priced generic drugs, reported Reuters.

Under the terms of the settlement, which is subject to court approval, the FTC will dismiss its claims against Teva and its affiliates in three outstanding cases, and the parties will modify certain terms in their 2015 consent decree. Teva will not pay any additional money to the FTC as part of this settlement, the company announced.

“This settlement represents another milestone in the Commission’s unwavering commitment to put an end to harmful reverse-payment agreements,” said FTC chairman Joseph Simons, adding, “This broad settlement prevents the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs from entering into collusive agreements that prevent price competition by keeping generic drugs off the market.”

“We are very pleased to put these litigations against the FTC behind us,” said Brendan O’Grady, executive vice president and head of North America Commercial at Teva. “We also appreciate the FTC’s willingness to modify our consent decree to eliminate certain administrative burdens that will make it easier for us to navigate the patent issues that are critical to our business,” he noted.