justice_department

Former CEO and president of generics company charged with price fixing

pharmafile | December 15, 2016 | News story | Business Services, Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing Jeffrey glazer, heritage pharmaceuticals, jason malek 

Jeffrey Glazer, ex-CEO of Heritage Pharmaceuticals, and Jason Malek, the former president, have been charged with conspiracy to fix prices. The charges come as a result of an ongoing, two-year antitrust investigation by the Justice Department that involves numerous generics companies regarding price changes of different drugs.

The two men are the first to be charged as a result of the investigation and, according to Bloomsberg, are expected to plead guilty to the charges of conspiring with other drugmakers, as yet unidentified, to fix the prices of an antibiotic, doxycycline hyclate, and glyburide, a drug to treat those with diabetes.

The two men will appear before the court on 9 January. Depending upon how this particular appearance progresses, it could well lead to charges against executives at other companies that may have colluded with the two men in their practises.

Heritage Pharmaceuticals had fired the two men after its own internal investigation, back in August of this year, and announced that it is fully cooperating with the Justice Department. The company accused the men of stealing millions of dollars from the company over an extended period of time. The company is currently taking legal action against the two men but this is expected to be suspended for the Justice Departments investigation. The company had previously drawn the ire of Senator Bernie Sanders for the average increase of the price of doxycycline being raised by $1,829 per bottle.

“Millions of Americans rely on prescription medications to treat acute and chronic health conditions.  By entering into unlawful agreements to fix prices and allocate customers, these two executives sought to enrich themselves at the expense of sick and vulnerable individuals who rely upon access to generic pharmaceuticals as a more affordable alternative to brand-name medicines,” said deputy assistant attorney general Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.  

He continued, “These charges are an important step in correcting that injustice and in ensuring that generic pharmaceutical companies compete vigorously to provide these essential products at a price set by the market, not by collusion.”

The action has investors in the generic companies thought to be involved in the investigation worried, with share prices of all companies taking a hit on the news of the charges.

Ben Hargreaves

Related Content

No items found

Latest content