More details have emerged from a lawsuit filed by 47 states that accuses 17 generic drugmakers of engaging in a scheme to fix prices, according to STAT, who obtained an unredacted version of the complaint.
The lawsuit was initially filed in 2016 and has expanded in recent years. However, portions of the lawsuit that describe the price-fixing scheme have been kept under wrap.
Earlier in February, states involved in the lawsuit wanted to unseal the complaint, arguing the details are significant in the larger debate over drug costs. Generic drugmakers resisted the move. However, STAT was able to obtain a portion of the unredacted version.
Five key takeaways:
1. The unredacted complaint provides examples that state attorneys general say demonstrate two or more companies colluded to raise prices and the timing of those increases.
2. In one instance, an executive from Heritage Pharmaceuticals had an employee email a competitor, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, to discuss strategy. In this instance Heritage believed Dr. Reddy's would be the only competitor that would be selling a generic version of osteoporosis drug Reclast on the first day it could be made available.
3. In another case, a Heritage employee spoke with Mayne Pharma about maintaining their respective market shares for an antibiotic, Doxycycline DR. According to the unredacted lawsuit, at one point in time, Heritage also floated the idea of halting sales of the antibiotic to Econdisc, a group purchasing organization, if Mayne agreed not to price the drug at a steep discount and stop selling its version of the antibiotic to McKesson, another big wholesaler.
4. A third example brought by prosecutors claims that when Heritage began planning price hikes in 2013 for its Doxycycline Monohydrate antibiotic it also began conversations with generic competitors. Emails started flowing between Heritage, Lannett Co. and Par Pharmaceutical. Heritage's vice president of generic sales sent an email to the vice president of marketing and business analytics that said, "I hear that Lannett is taking a price increase on doxy mono and Heritage will follow." The email was forwarded internally at Par with the message "FYI… we will follow," according to STAT.
5. Another example brought by prosecutors involved Theophylline ER, an asthma medication. In 2014, Teva Pharmaceuticals wanted to raise its price. According to the unredacted lawsuit, a Teva director spoke with a Heritage employee to discuss raising prices. In April 2014 Teva raised the price. Heritage did in May and June of the same year.
Read the full report here.