EU Commission fines Teva $500 million for trying to stop competitor's multiple sclerosis drug

BRUSSELS — The European Commission said Thursday that it has fined Israeli generic drug maker Teva more than 460 million euros ($500 million) for improperly attempting to use the patent for its multiple sclerosis drug and because it disparaged the development of a competing drug by a competing company.

The commission said the drug company “abused the patent system to artificially extend the patent protection” for its blockbuster MS drug Copaxone, whose active ingredient is glatiramer acetate.

To this end, Teva conducted a “denigration campaign” against Synthon, the only other company with an approved drug in Europe containing glatiramer acetate, the Commission said in a statement.

Teva “disseminated information that contradicted the findings of health authorities and attempted to sow doubt about the safety, effectiveness and therapeutic equivalence of the competing product,” the EU Commission said. It said Teva officials targeted doctors and groups involved in drug pricing and reimbursement “with the aim of slowing or blocking the competitor's market entry in multiple countries.”

In a statement, Teva said it disagreed with the EU Commission's decision, which it described as “based on legal theories… that are extreme, untested and factually unsupported.” She said she plans to appeal the decision and has supported the MS community since 1996.

The EU Commission said Teva's actions may have prevented significant savings in countries across Europe as other versions of the drug may be 80% cheaper than Copaxone. Teva must pay a fine of 462.6 million euros (502 million US dollars) and refrain from similar practices in the future, it said.

Last year, Teva was ordered to pay $225 million to settle price-fixing charges in the United States related to the sale of a cholesterol-lowering drug. The U.S. Justice Department said the agreement also requires Teva to divest its business manufacturing and selling the drug pravastatin, a generic version of the brand-name drug Pravachol.

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