Dive Brief:
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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries will pay a record $1.2 billion settlement to the Federal Trade Commission for moving to stop competitors from entering the market for the sleep disorder drug.
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The settlement, announced Thursday, settles a lawsuit the FTC filed against seven years ago against Cephalon, the pharmaceutical company that owned Provigil and now is held by Teva.
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The FTC alleges Cephalon essentially bought off potential generic drug competitors to keep the cash pipeline flowing for Teva even as its patent expired.
Dive Insight:
The moves essentially delayed generic versions of the drug for six years. Provigil's sales in 2011, its last year before facing generic competition, were more than $1 billion, the FTC said.
The pay-for-delay move, better known as a reverse-payment settlement, is hardly rare in the pharma industry -- but the action shows that the FTC is pushing back against the practice. A trial over the dispute was to begin Monday in Philadelphia.
"Requiring wrongdoers to give up their ill-gotten gains is an important deterrent," FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in a statement. A Teva spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal that it was "pleased to reach" the deal.