Teva Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay $425 million to resolve allegations that the company funneled kickbacks through copay assistance foundations.
Three things to know:
1. The government filed a complaint in 2020 alleging that from 2006 to 2017, Teva manipulated the copay foundation assistance system by "conspiring with multiple third parties, including a specialty pharmacy and two allegedly independent co-pay assistance foundations, to direct its supposed charitable payments specifically to patients taking its own multiple sclerosis drug, Copaxone," according to an Oct. 10 Justice Department news release.
At the same time, Teva allegedly steadily raised Copaxone's price by thousands of dollars. The government alleged that this violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and caused the submission of false claims to Medicare.
2. The settlement was reached after the government's review of Teva's financial disclosures concerning its financial condition, according to the release.
3. The resolution with Teva is the largest copay assistance settlement to date, according to the release.
Teva did not immediately return a message seeking comment.