
Sanofi set to pay $11.9 million to resolve kickback probe, US Justice Department announces
pharmafile | March 2, 2020 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â Co pays, Justice department, Medicaid, Medicare, Sanofi, insuranceÂ
The Justice Department have announced that Sanofi SA have agreed to pay $11.85 million to resolve allegations it used a Medicare charity, that covers out-of-pocket drug costs, as a means to pay them kickbacks to use a high-priced multiple sclerosis drug.
The deal, announced on Friday, was part of a larger probe into drugmakers’ financial support of charities that has resulted in over $865 million in settlements.
Sanofi had provided payments to one of these charities called The Assistance Fund, but with a purpose to use it as a cover the co-pay obligations of Medicare using the MS drug Lemtrada. These payments occurred from 2015 to 2016.
As part of this deal, Sanofi did not admit any wrong doing and said that they believed their actions helped patients lead healthiers lives. However, US Attorney Andrew Lelling said: “Sanofi used a supposed charity as a conduit to funnel money to patients taking Sanofi’s very expensive drug, all at the expense of the Medicare program.”
The government believes Sanofi is not alone, alleging various drug makers have used charities to improperly pay the co-pay obligations of Medicare patients suing their drug, and this in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Conor Kavanagh
Related Content

Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent receives CHMP recommendation for chronic spontaneous urticaria
Sanofi and Regeneron have received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee …

Sanofi’s treatment granted orphan designation for rare chronic inflammatory condition
The European Medicines Agency has granted orphan designation to Sanofi’s investigational Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) …

Sanofi completes acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience to early neurology pipeline
Sanofi has announced that it has finalised its acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience, a US-based biotechnology …






