Teva Pays $225 Million to Settle Cipro Suit
US company Barr Laboratories, a subsidiary of Israeli drugmaker Teva, has reached a $225 million settlement in an antitrust class action that accused Teva of keeping a generic version of Bayer's antibiotic Cipro off the market in exchange for payment.
The 17-year-old civil case heard by a California state court dates back to 2000 and was revived in 2015. It concerns a series of settlements in the late 1990s under which Bayer allegedly paid Barr Pharmaceuticals, now part of Teva, $398 million not to market Cipro's generic version. Bayer had earlier sued Barr claiming that the generic Cipro would infringe its patent.
The current suit was filed by a group of non-profits and individuals in the state who purchased the antibiotic and claimed the settlement drove up the price of the drug and violated California's antitrust law and the Cartwright Act.
In December 2016, agreed to pay more than $519 million to settle US criminal and civil allegations that the company bribed overseas officials to gain business for its medications.
The revived case, which began in 2000 in a California state court, centers on a series of settlements in the late 1990s under which Bayer allegedly paid Barr Pharmaceuticals, bought by Teva for $9 billion in 2008, $398 million not to market a generic version of Cipro. Bayer had earlier sued Barr claiming that the generic would infringe one of its patents.
