Twenty U.S. states filed a lawsuit Thursday against six generic drugmakers, alleging they colluded to set fixed prices of two common drugs and split up market share, reports Reuters.
Here are five things to know about the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
1. The six drugmakers named in the lawsuit are Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Mylan, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Mayne Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma and Citron Pharma.
2. The lawsuit focuses on the price of two drugs: a delayed-release version of the antibiotic doxycycline hyclate and the diabetes medication glyburide. In October 2013, doxycycline cost $20 for 500 tablets. In May 2014, that price jumped to $1,849.
3. The lawsuit said Heritage Pharmaceuticals served as a "ring leader" for the price manipulation, according to the report. Heritage allegedly conspired with Teva, Aurobindo and Citron to raise prices for glyburide and worked with Mylan and Maine to allocate and divide the market for doxycycline, according to the report.
4. Employees allegedly knew about the illegal conduct and deleted emails or made efforts to avoid communicating in writing, according to the report.
5. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed charges against two former Heritage executives for conspiring to fix prices on the generic drugs.
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