Warner Chilcott pays to settle contraceptive suit
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NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) - Warner Chilcott Ltd. (WCRX.O) has agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle a case alleging it illegally conspired with Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. BRL.N to block a generic for its oral contraceptive, Ovcon, New York's attorney general said on Tuesday.
The settlement is related to a November 2005 lawsuit, alleging Warner Chilcott agreed to pay Barr $20 million for a five-year exclusive license for the generic version of Ovcon.
"Warner Chilcott's agreement with Barr deprived women of the benefits of competition and lower prices," Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.
Warner Chilcott develops and sells branded prescription drugs in women's health care and dermatology therapeutic categories.
Under the terms of the settlement, Warner Chilcott will pay the money to 34 states and the District of Columbia. It has also agreed not to enter into certain agreements that keep potential generic competitors off the market.
A Warner Chilcott representative could not be reached immediately for comment.
The states will continue to prosecute their case against Barr, the co-defendant, Cuomo's office said.
Barr received the FDA's approval to make and sell its generic version of Ovcon in April 2004, Cuomo's office said.
In September last year, while the lawsuit was ongoing, Warner Chilcott abandoned the portion of its agreement that prevented Barr from bringing the generic version to the market, the AG's office said. Barr's introduced its drug in October 2006.
The Federal Trade Commission, which had brought a separate lawsuit, settled its case against Warner Chilcott in October 2006 for injunctive relief, the AG's office said.
Ovcon has been sold in the United States since 1976, with Warner Chilcott the exclusive U.S. distributor of the drug since early 2000, Cuomo's office said.
((Editing by Braden Reddall; 212-393-9461; paritosh.bansal@reuters.com)) Keywords: WARNERCHILCOTT SETTLE/
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