In the latest twist from the merger gone wrong, Fresnenius has accused Akorn Inc. of sending bad data about a drug to the FDA.
Last week, American generic drugmaker Akorn asked the Delaware Chancery Court to stop Germany-based Fresenius of pulling out of the companies’ proposed $4.3 billion merger. At the time, Fresnenius said that Akorn had failed to “fulfill closing obligations” and that it had concerns about the company’s drug development.
Now, court documents have revealed that an investigation by Fresenius found that an Akorn executive “knowingly directed the submission of fraudulent testing data” about the company’s antibiotic, azithromycin in 2012.
Akorn said that it later admitted that it learned about the fabricated test results and that it suspended its request to have the drug approved in the U.S. The company accused Fresenius of blaming its buyer’s remorse for the takeover on a minor issue.
Fresenius countered that Akorn hoped to hide the issue until after the acquisition was complete.
Fresenius has asked the judge to let the company get out of the proposed deal.
Read the full Bloomberg report.