US FTC finds 60% rise in pharma pay-for-delay deals; flawed understanding says GPhA

Pharmaceutical companies in the USA struck an unprecedented number of deals in fiscal year 2010 in which the manufacturers of branded products paid potential generic rivals and generic companies agreed to defer the introduction of lower-cost medicines for American consumers, according to an overview of industry data released by the staff of the  US Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC staff report found that the number of these deals skyrocketed more than 60%, from 19 in FY 2009 to 31 in FY 2010. Overall, the agreements reached in the latest fiscal year involved 22 different brand-name pharmaceutical products with combined annual US sales of about $9.3 billion.

“Collusive deals to keep generics off the market are already costing consumers and taxpayers $3.5 billion a year in higher drug prices,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, adding: “The increasing number of these deals is a win-win proposition for the pharmaceutical industry, but a lose-lose for everyone else.”