Teva to pay $225M, Glenmark to pay $30M to settle price fixing charges

Two generic drug companies, Teva and Glenmark have agreed to settle price fixing criminal charges with the Justice Department over their generic Pravachol and to divest their pravastatin business. 

Teva has agreed to pay $225 million and Glenmark has agreed to pay a $30 million criminal penalty.

According to an Associated Press report, a statement from the U.S. arm of Israel-based Teva,  blamed a single former employee, who left the company in 2016, for striking agreements with Teva competitors that limited competition between 2013 and 2015. 

The DOJ had charged seven generic drug makers, including Teva and Glenmark, with price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation schemes. The seven companies have settled their cases with deferred prosecution agreements. 

[Read more: Teva to pay Kentucky $1.407M to settle state's price fixing claims]

If any of the cases gone to trial, guilty verdicts could have led to mandatory bans from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs, the report said, noting that the companies collectively agreed to pay $681 million in fines in addition to other penalties, the report concluded.

[Read more: Teva to pay Florida $6.73M to settle state’s price fixing claims]