Allergan Broke Antitrust Laws With Endo Drug Deal, U.S. Says
- Endo agreements blocked generic competition, FTC says in suit
- Lawsuit widens FTC challenges against pay-for-delay deals
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Allergan Plc broke antitrust laws by agreeing with drugmaker Endo International Plc to delay the launch of a generic pain-reliever, the U.S. said in its latest challenge to deals it claims shield pharmaceutical companies from competition.
The Federal Trade Commission said Endo reached an illegal pact in which Allergan’s Watson Laboratories delayed a generic version of Endo’s Lidoderm patch, which helps treat pain from shingles. The FTC also challenged a similar agreement with Impax Laboratories Inc. to postpone a copycat of Endo’s Opana ER, an opiate painkiller. The deals forced consumers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars more a year for the drugs, the FTC said in a statement Thursday.