Astellas and Amgen settle with DoJ on kickbacks

26 April 2019

Japanese drugmaker Astellas (TYO: 4503) and US biotech Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) have agreed to pay a total of $124.75 million to the Department of Justice (DoJ) in the USA over alleged kickbacks.

The companies had been accused of violating the False Claims Act by illegally paying the Medicare copays for their own products, through purportedly independent foundations that they used as mere conduits.

The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits a pharmaceutical company from offering or paying, directly or indirectly, any remuneration — which includes money or any other thing of value — to induce Medicare patients to purchase the company’s drugs. This prohibition extends to the payment of patients’ copay obligations.

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