Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) and Mylan N.V.'s (Nasdaq: MYL; TASE: MYL) recently reported that they were among more than 10 generic pharmaceutical companies under investigation by the US Justice Department for suspected violations of antitrust law.
The price fixing probe has now moved up a gear following reports that two senior executives at Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc., a relatively small drugmaker, have been charged with conspiring to fix prices, and may be considering a plea bargain. Heritage's former CEO Jeffrey Glazer and former president Jason Malek are the first two senior executives to be charged personally in this investigation. The two executives are expected to plead guilty to price fixing in January.
"Bloomberg" has named two of the drugs that have apparently been subject to price fixing - the antibiotic doxycyclin and the diabetes treatment glyburide. The two drugs are made by both Teva and Mylan with Mylan being one of the dominant manufacturers of doxycycline, although it is also made by many other manufacturers.
Teva and Mylan have insisted in the past that they have no information regarding measures to fix prices by them.
Due to the reports Teva's share price fell by 1.5% on the TASE yesterday and 1.75% on the NYSE. Mylan's share price fell 1.2% yesterday on the TASE and 1.6% on Nasdaq. Teva's share price is stable today on the TASE while Mylan's share price is up nearly 1%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 15, 2016
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