Aurobindo Pharma, Sun Pharma, Lupin Named In Lawsuit In The U.S.
The three Indian drugmakers are among the twenty-six that have been accused of manipulating generic drug prices across the U.S.
Three Indian drugmakers—Aurobindo Pharma Ltd., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Lupin Ltd.—are among the 26 facing a multi-state lawsuit filed in the U.S. for alleged "conspiracy to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition, and unreasonably restrain trade for generic drugs sold across the United States".
Maryland Attorney General Brian E Frosh in a statement issued Wednesday said the new complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, focuses on 80 topical generic drugs that account for billions of dollars of sales in the U.S.
The complaint names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individual defendants. It seeks damages, civil penalties, and actions by the court to restore competition in the generic drugs market. In addition to Maryland, the suit was joined by the attorney generals of all other American states.
"This complaint shows again a tangled web of industry executives and sales people, who met with each other on social outings and at trade shows, had conversations that laid the groundwork for the illegal agreements,” Frosh said. “Their price-fixing schemes cost patients, the State of Maryland and health insurance companies billions of dollars in unnecessary healthcare expenditures," Frosh said.
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The complaint is the third to be filed in an ongoing investigation that is possibly the largest domestic corporate cartel case in the history of the U.S., the statement said.