Bristol-Myers Squibb to pay $1m fine

Bristol-Myers Squibb has pled guilty to two violations of USC Sec 1001 in the US District Court for the District of Columbia and will consequently pay a fine of $1 million (0.51 million pounds).

This plea follows an investigation by the US Department of Justice into the company’s settlement with Apotex Inc and Apotex Corp concerning the launch of a generic version of Plavix.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has accepted that a former senior executive had given Apotex the impression that the company would not launch a generic version of the drug if the firms reached a final settlement of the issue.

In this dialogue, the executive implied that he would lobby against such a launch and was backed by the former chief executive officer of the company in these thoughts.

“The failure to disclose this information to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in connection with the FTC’s review of the revised settlement agreement operated as incomplete and therefore false statements to the FTC,” Bristol-Myers Squibb acknowledges.

The effect of this plea on the potential patent settlement case for Plavix “cannot be predicted” by Bristol-Myers Squibb, which continues to maintain that there existed no side agreement with Apotex.

In September 2006, chief executive of Bristol-Myers Squibb Peter R Dolan was voted out of the firm amid controversy relating to its handling of the generic launch of Plavix.