42% of US pharma settlements with FTC involved payments to generics firms

The US Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition has issued a summary of agreements filed with the agency in fiscal year 2007 (ending September 30, 2007) by both generic and branded manufacturers of pharmaceutical products.

The US Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 requires drug companies to file certain agreements with the FTC and the Department of Justice. The summary provides information regarding the agreements filed with the FTC in fiscal year 2007. It also compares that information with data it received in FY 2006, FY 2005 and FY 2004. Each of these annual reports is available on the Commission's web site at: www.ftc.gov.

In FY 2007, there were 33 final settlements, nearly half of which (14, or 42%) included both compensation to the copy-drug company and a restriction on the generic firm's ability to market its product. Of those 14 settlements, 79% involved first-filer generic companies, the FTC notes.