The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.

U.S. Files First Charges in Generic Drug Price-Fixing Probe.  The U.S. Department of Justice accused two former generic pharmaceutical executives on Wednesday of colluding with other generic manufacturers to fix prices, the first criminal charges stemming from a two-year investigation.  The executives, Jeffrey Glazer and Jason Malek, were charged in Philadelphia with conspiring to fix the prices of an antibiotic, doxycycline hyclate, and to split up the market for glyburide, a diabetes drug, the Justice Department said.  Their former employer, Heritage Pharmaceuticals, filed a lawsuit against them in August, saying in a complaint they were behind a “brazen theft” and “looted tens of millions of dollars from Heritage by misappropriating its business opportunities, fraudulently obtaining compensation for themselves, and embezzling its intellectual property.”

20 States Accuse Generic Drug Companies of Price Fixing.  A wide-ranging investigation into generic drug prices took its most significant turn yet on Thursday, as state attorneys general accused two industry leaders, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Mylan, and four smaller companies of engaging in brazen price-fixing schemes — and promised that more charges were coming.  A civil complaint filed by 20 states accuses the companies of conspiring to artificially inflate prices on an antibiotic and a diabetes drug, with executives coordinating through informal industry gatherings and personal calls and text messages.  Officials said the case was a small example of broader problems in the drug business.

Omnicom, Publicis get DoJ Subpoenas Over Video Production Practices.  Subsidiaries for advertising companies Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe were subpoenaed by the U.S. Department of Justice, both companies said on Friday.  The Justice Department’s antitrust division has been investigating whether ad agencies had rigged bids to favor in-house production units.

U.S. Seeks to Undercut Aetna CEO’s Defense in Merger Fight.  The U.S. Justice Department sought to knock down arguments by Aetna Inc.’s chief executive that Medicare Advantage competes with government insurance programs, making Aetna’s proposed merger with Humana legal under antitrust law.  The Justice Department initiated a lawsuit to stop the merger in July.  Judge John Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will likely allow the deal to go forward if he agrees with Aetna that traditional Medicare, managed by the government, competes with Medicare Advantage, run by insurers.