Abbott pays $184M to settle court case

The USA's Abbott Laboratories will pay more than $184.0 million for the settlement of an anti-competition case brought against it by a range of firms, including Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.

The group of companies accuse Abbott of making minor changes to the formulation of its cholesterol-lowerer TriCor (fenofibrate), in order to preserve its patent-exclusivity period beyond the natural expiry and block the launch of cheaper generic alternatives. Sales of the drug reached $1.2 billion during 2007.

The firm, however, did not admit any wrongdoing and said it had reached the settlement "to avoid the uncertainty of a trial outcome." It added that this settles the bulk of the litigation, although the company still faces a suit brought against it by a group of attorneys general over the matter.