Biogen has agreed to pay $900 million to resolve False Claim Act allegations involving kickbacks.
A False Claims lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts by a former employee in 2012, alleged that Biogen improperly paid kickbacks to its top prescribers to discourage them from prescribing multiple sclerosis drugs from competing drugmakers. The qui tam complaint also alleges that Biogen paid prescribers for speaking and consulting services the company didn't need or intend to use.
"We believe this settlement represents the largest recovery in the over 150 years of False Claims Act cases to be secured by a whistleblower without the intervention or participation of the United States," Thomas Greene, an attorney for the whistleblower, Michael Bawduniak, said in a news release.
In second-quarter earnings results posted July 20, Biogen said the settlement does not include any admission of liability and is subject to the negotiation of final settlement agreements.
"We are resolving this matter to avoid the distraction of litigation and to allow the company to focus on our strategic priorities and the patients we serve," Biogen said in a statement to Becker's.