Dept. of Justice: AG Kaul announces significant updates in multistate litigation against generic drug manufacturers over conspiracies to inflate prices and limit competition

MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul today announced two significant cooperation agreements and settlements with Heritage Pharmaceuticals and Apotex totaling $49.1 million to resolve allegations that both companies artificially inflated and manipulated prices, reduced competition, and unreasonably restrained trade with regard to numerous generic prescription drugs. As part of the settlement agreements, both companies have agreed to cooperate in the ongoing multistate litigations against 30 corporate defendants and 25 individual executives. Both companies have further agreed to a series of internal reforms to ensure fair competition and compliance with antitrust laws.

A motion for preliminary approval of the $10 million settlement with Heritage will be filed today in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut in Hartford. A settlement with Apotex for $39.1 million is contingent upon obtaining signatures from all necessary states and territories and will be finalized and filed in the U.S. District Court in the near future.

“Wisconsinites shouldn’t have to pay more for their prescriptions because prices were improperly inflated,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “The Wisconsin Department of Justice will continue working to protect Wisconsinites’ pocketbooks against anticompetitive conduct.”

The settlements come as the states prepare for the first trial to be held in Hartford, Connecticut.

If you purchased a generic prescription drug manufactured by either of these two companies between 2010 and 2018, you may be eligible for compensation. To determine your eligibility, call 1-866-290-0182 (Toll-Free), email info@AGGenericDrugs.com or visit https://www.aggenericdrugs.com/Home/portalid/0.

These settlements arise from the multistate filing three antitrust complaints, starting first in 2016. The first Complaint included Heritage and 17 other corporate Defendants, two individual Defendants, and 15 generic drugs. Two former executives from Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Jeffery Glazer and Jason Malek, have since entered into settlement agreements and are cooperating. The second Complaint was filed in 2019 against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers. The Complaint names 16 individual senior executive Defendants. The third complaint, to be tried first, focuses on 80 topical generic drugs that account for billions of dollars of sales in the United States and names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individual defendants. Six additional pharmaceutical executives have entered into settlement agreements with the States and have been cooperating to support the States’ claims in all three cases.  

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico joined in today’s announcement.

View this press release on the Wisconsin DOJ website here.