8:21 AM Mon, Aug 24, 2009 | Permalink
By Business staff  Email this author | Email this entry |
Woonsocket-based CVS Caremark Corp. and Rite Aid Corp. sued Cephalon Inc.
and several generic-drug makers for allegedly conspiring to delay competition to its sleep-disorder drug Provigil.
Cephalon signed four patent settlements with generic-drug makers totaling more than $200 million so they wouldn't begin sales until 2012, the drug-store chains said in the complaint filed Aug. 20 in federal court in Philadelphia. Absent the illegal agreements, generic versions of the drug would have been available as early as January 2006, the complaint said.
The lawsuit is one of several filed against the company complaining about the settlements. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued Cephalon last year, claiming the company abused the competitive and regulatory process. Banning drugmakers from paying to delay the entry of generic competition may save American consumers $35 billion over 10 years, according to a study the agency released in June.
Provigil, whose chemical name is modafinil, is approved to help night-shift workers and people with sleep apnea and narcolepsy stay awake.
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