Teva Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. affiliate of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., has reached a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle the criminal price-fixing charges brought against Teva in 2020.
Under the DPA, which will allow Teva to avoid mandatory exclusion from participation in U.S. federal health care programs, Teva will pay a fine of $225 million over five years, with $22.5 million due each year from 2024 through 2027, and $135 million due in 2028. The Company has also agreed to donate $50 million worth of two generic products (valued at wholesale acquisition cost), to humanitarian organizations, and to divest one additional generic product to a third-party buyer.
Teva admits in the DPA that a single former employee, in three instances involving three separate customers between 2013 and 2015, agreed with competitors that Teva would not bid on an opportunity to supply that customer with a particular generic product. This former employee left the Company in 2016.
Teva fosters a culture of compliance, including with the antitrust laws, and is dedicated to conducting business with integrity and fairness. Teva has robust and consistent compliance controls in place designed to prevent this type of activity from reoccurring, and has committed, as part of the DPA, to maintain those controls going forward.
Teva said it is pleased to put these charges behind and believes that the company remains well-positioned to defend against related civil claims.
Recently, Teva has reached the sixth settlement of price-fixing claims that Teva has reached in the U.S.