States widen generics antitrust case to Novartis in new filing

A group of 42 US states and territories has filed a fresh antitrust lawsuit accusing Swiss pharma Novartis (NOVN: VX) and its former generics unit Sandoz (SIX: SDZ) of colluding to fix prices and allocate markets for generic medicines over several years.

Filed in federal court in Connecticut, the complaint alleges Novartis exercised control over Sandoz’s US generics business and should share liability for conduct that allegedly kept prices artificially high across dozens of widely used off-patent drugs.

For Sandoz, the litigation threatens to linger as it tries to reposition itself for growth through biosimilars and future high-volume generics, while for Novartis it reopens a chapter the company has sought to close since exiting the generics business.