Teva settles with US FTC over reverse payments

The USA’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with Israeli generics giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE: TEVA) that would prevent the company from entering into certain reverse-payment patent settlements that can delay the availability of generic versions of drugs.

Under the terms of the settlement, which is subject to court approval, the FTC will dismiss its claims against Teva and its affiliates in three outstanding cases, and the parties will modify certain terms in their 2015 consent decree. Teva will not pay any additional money to the FTC as part of this settlement, the company said.

“This settlement represents another milestone in the Commission’s unwavering commitment to put an end to harmful reverse-payment agreements,” said FTC chairman Joseph Simons, adding: “This broad settlement prevents the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs from entering into collusive agreements that prevent price competition by keeping generic drugs off the market.”