US sues Dr. Reddy, Glenmark, Sun Pharma for price-fixing

As part of a multi-year probe by US authorities on alleged price cartelisation by Indian generic drugmakers, five pharmaceutical companies including Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Zydus Cadila Pharmaceuticals have been named in a lawsuit for artificially inflating generic drug price in the US.

These drug makers are facing an anti-trust probe for price-fixing and could face criminal charges and penalties if found guilty. The lawsuit specifically mentions names of two top pharma executives, MD of Emcure, Satish Mehta and Executive Director of Mylan NV, Rajiv Malik.

This comes as another challenge to the Indian pharmas who are already facing stricter regulations from USFDA while trying to expand their market share in the US generic space. It is also expected that the investigators would expand their probe into other generic companies and their executives.

Undeterred by this news, the stocks of pharmaceutical companies were trading higher during the morning hours on Thursday. Nifty Pharma index was higher by 2.62%. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories was at Rs. 2,379.95, up by 1.09%, Cadila Healthcare was at Rs. 512.65, up by 3.24%, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was trading at Rs. 645.30 per share, up by 3.78%, Sun Pharmaceutical was at Rs. 560.90, up by 2.22% on NSE, on Thursday.