Sandoz admitted to its role in a generic drug price-fixing scheme and agreed to pay a $195 million criminal penalty, the largest in a domestic antitrust case, the U.S. Justice Department announced March 2.
Sandoz, which is the generic unit of Novartis, admitted to its role in four antitrust conspiracies that took place between 2013 and 2015, each with a competing generic drugmaker. It also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.
Sandoz was charged for conspiring to allocate customers, rig bids and fix prices for generic drugs. The drugmaker admitted that its sales affected by the conspiracies totaled more than $500 million.
"We are disappointed that this misconduct occurred in the face of our clear antitrust compliance policies and multiple trainings — and in full contravention of the company’s values," said Carol Lynch, president of Sandoz US.
Sandoz said the individuals implicated in the case are no longer employed by the company.
Read the full news release here.