NH joins $469M multistate settlement with generic drug maker Sandoz over price-fixing claims
The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office announced a $469 million tentative agreement with generic drug manufacturer Sandoz, resolving claims that the company took part in a long-running conspiracy to inflate prices and reduce competition across the prescription drug market.
If finalized and approved by the court, the agreement — reached on behalf of 43 states and territories — Sandoz would pay approximately $469 million to state attorneys general, including amounts paid through previous settlements with certain states.
The settlement also resolves allegations involving Sandoz's current and former international affiliates, Novartis AG, Sandoz AG and Sandoz Group AG, and requires Sandoz to implement compliance and oversight reforms designed to strengthen competition and prevent future antitrust violations.
"This settlement reflects our continued commitment to protecting New Hampshire consumers and ensuring that companies compete fairly," New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a statement. "When businesses unlawfully conspire to manipulate prices and limit competition, consumers ultimately pay the price."
Sandoz officials said the settlements do not contain any admission of wrongdoing by its U.S. subsidiaries Sandoz Inc. and Fougera Pharma, adding the agreements "underscore the company's commitment to integrity, sound governance and resolving allegations of legacy conduct."
The litigation is the result of a multiyear bipartisan investigation into alleged price-fixing and market-allocation schemes involving numerous generic prescription drugs.
According to the states' complaints, competing pharmaceutical companies coordinated pricing and market allocation through repeated communications among sales and pricing executives. Internal communications and other evidence allegedly showed efforts to discourage competition, allocate market share and raise prices on generic medications purchased by consumers across the country.
The multistate litigation remains ongoing against additional pharmaceutical manufacturers and individual executives. Specific state allocations are still to be determined.
