European Commissioner for Europe fit for the Digital Age Margrethe Vestager speaks during a media conference on European Data Governance at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool via AP) European Executive Vice- President Margrethe Vestager speaks during a media conference regarding an antitrust case at EU headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. The European Union has fined two pharmaceutical companies for colluding to keep a cheap alternative to a sleep disorder medicine off the market for their profit and at the expense of patients. (Johanna Geron, Pool via AP) European Executive Vice- President Margrethe Vestager speaks during a media conference regarding an antitrust case at EU headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. The European Union has fined two pharmaceutical companies for colluding to keep a cheap alternative to a sleep disorder medicine off the market for their profit and at the expense of patients. (Johanna Geron, Pool via AP) European Executive Vice- President Margrethe Vestager speaks during a media conference regarding an antitrust case at EU headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. The European Union has fined two pharmaceutical companies for colluding to keep a cheap alternative to a sleep disorder medicine off the market for their profit and at the expense of patients. (Johanna Geron, Pool via AP) European Executive Vice- President Margrethe Vestager speaks during a media conference regarding an antitrust case at EU headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. The European Union has fined two pharmaceutical companies for colluding to keep a cheap alternative to a sleep disorder medicine off the market for their profit and at the expense of patients. (Johanna Geron, Pool via AP)
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has fined two pharmaceutical companies for colluding to keep a cheap alternative to a sleep disorder medicine off the market for their profit and at the expense of patients.
EU antitrust commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said that Teva pharmaceuticals and Cephalon, a company it later acquired, must pay 60.5 million euros ($72 million) for agreeing between themselves to delay for years the launch of Teva's cheaper version of Cephalon's blockbuster Modafinil. In return for the delay, Teva got beneficial side deals and some payments.
Vestager said that “Teva’s and Cephalon’s pay-for-delay agreement harmed patients and national health systems, depriving them of more affordable medicines."
Modafinil treats excessive daytime sleepiness and under the brand name Provigil it accounted for more than 40% of Cephalon's turnover. A cheap alternative would have had a serious impact on the company, and the EU argued that Cephalon enticed Teva in 2005 to stay out of its market. In 2011, Teva acquired Cephalon.
Teva said in a statement that it maintained its innocence. “We continue to believe the modafinil patent settlement agreement did not infringe EU competition law in relation to the principles" laid out by the EU's court of justice. “We are planning to file an appeal."
Before you make your next trade, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis.
Our team has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and none of the big name stocks were on the list.
They believe these five stocks are the five best companies for investors to buy now...
See The Five Stocks Here
Click the link below and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of the 10 best stocks to own in 2024 and why they should be in your portfolio.
Get This Free Report