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BMS is the Target of Antitrust Probe


Posted on 2006-07-27 12:28:00



Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is the subject of a criminal antitrust probe over a patent settlement with a generic competitor, the drugmaker said Thursday while reporting its second-quarter profit fell 33 percent on higher taxes and product investments.

The Justice Department had launched the investigation into the settlement, which was designed to keep Apotex Inc.'s generic version of blood-thinner Plavix at bay until at least 2011.

In May, the company and its marketing partner Sanofi-Aventis were hit with several lawsuits alleging the settlement violated antitrust laws by denying the public access to a cheaper generic alternative.

The company also reporte that second quarter net income declined to $667 million from $1 billion, but sales slipped less than 1 percent to $4.87 billion. Sales of Plavix rose 18 percent to $1.15 billion, but sales of the cholesterol drug Pravachol, which lost patent protection recently, fell 48 percent to $323 million from a year ago.

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