Novartis’ Sandoz Settles U.S. Drug Price-Fixing Charges (1)

Novartis AG’s Sandoz unit agreed to pay $195 million to settle U.S. criminal charges that it conspired with other pharmaceutical companies to fix prices of generic drugs, the most significant settlement to come from a long-running Justice Department investigation.

Sandoz conspired with four of its competitors between 2013 and 2015 to rig drug prices, the Justice Department said Monday. The settlement marks the largest penalty obtained by the U.S. in a domestic cartel case, the government said. Sandoz agreed to cooperate with the antitrust division’s continuing investigation.

Sandoz admitted that the sales affected by the conspiracies exceeded $500 million ...