Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

New York, NY: (May-10-07) The Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against research-based pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., accusing it of infringing Plavix patents. Plavix, a blood thinner manufactured by Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis SA and marketed by New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb, was to face generic competition from Canadian drug maker Apotex Corp. In an effort to save its revenue from losing market share in 2006, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi reached a settlement with Apotex to keep the generic drug away from the market. However, the settlement failed and Bristol-Myers Chief Executive Peter Dolan lost his office. State attorneys general rejected the deal, paving the way for Apotex to ship its products for a brief period, before a federal judge stopped it. In a settlement reached with the DOJ, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. agreed that the company or one of its units would plead guilty to two charges over the Plavix patent litigation. The settlement also included an aggregate statutory maximum fine of $1 million for charges that relate as false statements to a government agency. [TRADING MARKETS: PLAVIX PATENT]

Legal Help

If you have a similar problem and would like to be contacted by a lawyer at no cost or obligation, please click the link below.
Published on May-14-07