SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Four pharmaceutical companies collectively are agreeing to pay California nearly $70 million to settle allegations that they delayed drugs to keep prices high.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Monday that the bulk of the money will come from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and its affiliates for paying to delay a generic narcolepsy drug, Provigil, from entering the market for nearly six years.
Teva is paying $69 million, which Becerra says is the largest pay-for-delay settlement received by any state. More than $25 million will go to a consumer fund for California residents who purchased Provigil, Nuvigil or Modafinil between 2006 and 2012.
The second, $760,000 settlement is with Teva, Endo Pharmaceuticals and Teikoku Pharma USA over the pain patch Lidoderm.
Both settlements bar the companies from future pay-for-delay agreements.
