Regeneron Sued Over Ploy to Push Drug Sales Through Charity (1)

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. illegally funneled tens of millions of dollars through a charitable foundation to boost sales of its macular degeneration drug, the Justice Department claimed in a lawsuit.

The donations made through the Chronic Disease Fund covered the co-payments for Medicare patients using the drug Eylea, which typically costs more than $10,000 a year. Regeneron would pay the charity exactly enough to cover the copay costs of the drug in an effort to encourage more doctors to prescribe it and more patients to buy it, according to the Justice Department lawsuit filed Wednesday in Boston federal court.

That arrangement ...