News briefs on Sanofi, Novo Nordisk and GlaxoSmithKline/Amicus

Two US subsidiaries of French drug major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) have agreed to pay $109 million to resolve allegations that Sanofi US violated the False Claims Act by giving physicians free units of Hyalgan (hyaluronate), a knee injection, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, to induce them to purchase and prescribe the product.

The settlement also resolves allegations that Sanofi US submitted false average sales price (ASP) reports for Hyalgan that failed to account for free units distributed contingent on Hyalgan purchases. The government alleges that the false ASP reports, which were used to set reimbursement rates, caused government programs to pay inflated amounts for Hyalgan and a competing product.

The company is also expected to enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Health and Human Services. There were no criminal charges against the company in connection with this matter.