Ex-Sandoz exec pleads guilty to price fixing in generics probe
Hector Armando Kellum, a former senior executive at Novartis division Sandoz, has pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to fix prices for generic drugs, the US Department of Justice announced.
From at least March 2013 until at least June 2015, “Kellum conspired to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for generic drugs”, said a DoJ statement on February 14.
The conspiracy affected products including, but not limited to, clobetasol (a corticosteroid used to treat skin conditions) and nystatin triamcinolone cream (used to treat fungal skin infections).
“With today’s guilty plea, the antitrust division continues its prosecution of high-ranking executives who conspired to cheat America’s most vulnerable elderly consumers by raising prices for vital drugs,” said Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general, antitrust division of the DoJ, via the statement.
“Competition in our healthcare system is a critical focus for the division, and rooting out collusion by executives is a key priority in keeping our markets free,” he added.
Kellum is the fourth executive to be charged in an ongoing investigation into pharmaceutical prices, and the third to plead guilty.
A violation of the charged offence carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for individuals, said the DoJ statement.
Sandoz told LSIPR in a statement that it was aware of the guilty plea by a former US vice president of business contacting and analytics at the company.
"The conduct referenced in the plea agreement occurred between 2013 and 2015 and was in direct contravention of our company’s values and the clear policies and training we had in place at the time. We are continuing to cooperate with the government in its investigation," said the statement.
The company continued: "Given the ongoing nature of the investigation, however, we cannot comment further at this time."
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