Nine pharma firms face EU fines over pay-for-delay deals

Nine pharmaceutical companies are facing fines over deals to prevent the arrival of generic competition, with Danish firm Lundbeck said to be facing a 'sizeable' financial penalty. 

Lundbeck, Merck KGaA, Generics UK, Arrow, Resolution Chemicals, Xellia Pharmaceuticals, Alpharma and Ranbaxy are all in line for financial penalties from the European Commission (EC), according to Reuters.

This is all due to so-called 'pay-for-delay' deals, where pharma firms developing branded drugs make payments to a generic company in return for that firm agreeing to delay its entry into the market.

This means the generic firms are compensated for delaying the sale of their drugs, and pharma companies can keep artificially bringing in revenue from their branded medicines after patents have expired. 

This may benefit the firms involved, but can cost patients and healthcare providers billions in extra money it shouldn't need to pay out.

European officials told Reuters the size of the fine will be “sizeable” in Lundbeck's case.

http://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/nine_pharma_firms_face_eu_fines_over_pay-for-delay_deals_481098?