After the Supreme Court refused to hear the Federal Trade Commission v. Schering-Plough case, Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) have introduced legislation to explicitly prohibit brand-name drug manufacturers from using pay-off agreements to keep cheaper generic equivalents off the market. In 2005, two appellate court decisions […]

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis announced that in response to concerns raised by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and state attorneys general to the previously announced proposed settlement the companies reached with Apotex relating to patent infringement litigation on Plavix(R) (clopidogrel bisulfate), the companies and Apotex have amended the agreement. Plavix, a blood thinner, is the […]

Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has agreed to settle litigation claims made by Novartis AG units Invamed Inc and Apothecon Inc. related to the raw material source in blood thinner Warfarin Sodium. Warfarin is a generic version of Coumadin, which is designed to reduce the threat of blood clots. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company […]

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 requires drug companies to file certain agreements with the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. The FTC’s Bureau of Competition has now issued a summary of agreements filed with the Commission in fiscal year 2005 by generic and branded drug manufacturers. The […]