The FTC and Warner Chilcott have settled antitrust charges alleging anticompetitive behavior involving Warner Chilcott's popular birth control drug Ovcon 35. The FTC filed the case to nullify a non-compete agreement between Warner Chilcott and Barr Laboratories that would have prevented Barr from launching a generic version of Ovcon 35 until May, 2009. According to the FTC:
The [settlement] came shortly after Warner Chilcott abandoned – under threat of a preliminary injunction sought by the FTC – the portion of its agreement with Barr Laboratories that prevented Barr from bringing a generic version of the drug to the market. The next day, Barr announced that it would begin selling generic Ovcon tablets in the United States. As a result of the FTC’s actions, Barr’s generic drug came on the market this week, and, for the first time, a lower-cost generic version of Ovcon now is available to consumers.
RELATED READING:
- October 23, 2006 FTC press release and complaint
- October 20, 2006 Warner Chilcott press release
- September 28, 2006 Orange Book Blog post
UPDATE: In a press release dated October 24, 2006, the FTC revealed some details of its settlement agreement with Warner Chilcott, including that Warner Chilcott must "refrain from entering into agreements with generic pharmaceutical companies in which the generic agrees not to compete with Warner Chilcott and there is either a supply agreement between the parties or Warner Chilcott provides the generic with anything of value and the agreement adversely effects competition."
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