FTC to Subpoena 190 Drug Makers on Anti-Competitive Practices

PharmaManufacturing.com
04/06/2006

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has said that it may subpoena some 190 pharmaceutical companies — some as early as this summer — as it investigates anti-competitive practices related to authorized generic drugs.

FTC is looking into whether or not brand-name pharmaceuticals are stifling competition by releasing generic versions of their own drugs just as generics makers ready their own products for market. Critics say the practice circumvents the six-month period of exclusivity that a generics company would have after successfully challenging a patent.

Click here for the FTC’s recent report on what it aims to uncover, and what probing questions it will ask of manufacturers.