Novartis finalizes $390 million settlement; FDA appro for melanoma therapy

The US subsidiary of Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) has finalized the settlement in principle, which was previously disclosed, to resolve a civil suit filed by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York related to Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp’s (NPC) interactions with specialty pharmacies for the drugs Exjade (deferasirox) and Myfortic (mycophenolate mofetil).

NPC is still in the process of finalizing its previously-disclosed settlement in principle with various states which filed similar civil suits related to Exjade. Today's agreement, and the anticipated agreements with the states, resolves all related federal and state civil claims on these matters, including the litigation brought by the qui tam relator (whistleblower) David Kester, a former employee, which concerned Exjade and Myfortic, as well as TOBI, Tasigna (nilotinib) and Gleevec (imatinib).

In line with the Company's prior disclosure on October 27, 2015, the final settlement agreement announced today includes total payments of $390 million to the federal government and state Medicaid programs to resolve allegations related to conduct dating to 2004.