After years of facing allegations of price-fixing on a massive scale, Teva Pharmaceuticals has agreed to settle with the state of Mississippi for US$925,000. That “modest” sum could be just the tip of the iceberg.
The case dates back to 2019 when Mississippi, along with 43 other states, sued 20 generic drugmakers for divvying up markets and setting prices, the lawsuit alleged at the time. Investigations identified over 100 affected drugs for various maladies, including treatments for multiple sclerosis, HIV, ADHD, and cancer, they claimed.
In some cases, price hikes that stemmed from backroom conversations were above 1,000%, former Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who has led the investigation, said at the time.
The suit claimed that Teva played a key role in the industry-wide scheme and named a number of Teva executives, including Maureen Cavanaugh, former senior vice president and chief commercial officer in North America.
But now it seems states are breaking away from the coordinated effort. Teva’s Mississippi settlement, filed in Pennsylvania federal court on Monday, June 21, marks the first agreement the Israeli drugmaker has inked as part of the larger price-fixing debacle.
While the deal is the first, it’s hopefully not the last as Teva works to “replicate these results” through ongoing settlement discussions with other states, spokesperson Kelley Dougherty said in a statement.
“We are very pleased to put these (price-fixing) claims by the state behind us, and we believe the modest settlement amount reflects our position on the lack of evidence for the allegations against us, which we continue to deny,” Dougherty said.
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