FTC accuses Cephalon over Provigil in patent case

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, February, 2008 | by Linda Loyd Inquirer Staff Writer

The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit yesterday against Cephalon Inc. over deals it struck with four makers of generic drugs that had challenged the patent on Cephalon's biggest drug, Provigil. The agreements, which the FTC said were worth more than $200 million, would prevent four companies - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Barr Laboratories Inc.

and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. - from selling a generic version of the sleep-disorder drug until 2012. Cephalon's "anticompetitive conduct," the FTC said, denies patients access to lower-cost generic versions of Provigil and forces consumers and other purchasers to pay "hundreds of millions of dollars a year more." Provigil had sales of $852 million last year. "Cephalon prevented competition...