Money Vestager: Multi-million dollar fine for pharmaceutical companies

The pharmaceutical companies Teva and Cephalon are said to pay a fine of 60.5 million euros because they are said to have kept a drug against sleep disorders artificially expensive. This was announced by the EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on Thursday in Brussels.

© Olivier Hoslet / EPA Pool / AP / dpa Margrethe Vestager, Vice President of the EU Commission.

Specifically, Cephalon is said to have dissuaded its then competitor Teva from offering a cheap imitation product for the drug Modafinil with commercial advantages.

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business transactions," said Vestager. This "pay-for-delay agreement" harmed patients and health systems because they were deprived of cheaper drugs.

Modafinil was a box-office hit under the brand name Provigil according to the commission for the US company Cephalon and in some cases brought in more than 40 percent of sales. When the main patents for the drug expired in 2005, the Israeli competitor Teva tried to bring a generic drug half as expensive to the market.

According to the information, a dispute arose over subsidiary patents, which ended in a settlement. As a consequence, Teva decided not to use a Modafinil product. "The consideration was some advantageous ancillary agreements and cash payments for Teva," said the commission. Cephalon eliminated competition by 2011. That year, Cephalon became a subsidiary of Teva. Of the fine, 30.5 million went to Cephalon and 30 million to Teva.