Connecticut and 19 other states are suing Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc. and and five other companies in federal court, alleging they conspired to restrain trade, inflate prices and reduce competition for an antibiotic and an oral diabetes medication.
In announcing the lawsuit Thursday, Attorney General George Jepsen said the drugs involved are doxycycline hyclate delayed release, the antibiotic, and glyburide, the oral diabetes medication.
While Heritage is considered the “principal architect of the conspiracies,” other involved defendants include Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc., Citron Pharma LLC, Mayne Pharma (USA), Inc., Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.
The lawsuit was filed under seal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Portions of the complaint are redacted in order to avoid compromising the ongoing investigations, Jepsen said.
In July 2014, Connecticut launched an investigation into suspicious price increases of a variety of generic drugs. The ongoing probe uncovered evidence, Jepsen says, of a “well-coordinated and long-running conspiracy” to fix prices and allocate markets for the two drugs cited in the lawsuit. Senior drug company executives and marketing and sales subordinates allegedly coordinated the schemes at industry trade shows and other events to thwart competition, Jepsen said.
In 2015, generic drug sales in the United States were estimated at $74.5 billion. Today, the generic pharmaceutical industry accounts for approximately 88 percent of all prescriptions written in the United States, Jepsen said
The defendants also tried to cover up evidence of their anticompetitive conduct, the states allege.
Connecticut is leading the multistate group of plaintiff states, which includes Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.
