US drops price-fixing case against former Taro Pharmaceutical executive

Taro Pharmaceutical Industries

16/11/2023 22:46

By Mike Scarcella
       Nov 16 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Thursday asked a
federal judge to dismiss charges in Pennsylvania against a
former sales and marketing executive of Taro Pharmaceutical
Industries who was accused of conspiring to fix generic drug
prices between 2013 and 2015.
    Prosecutors said in a filing they were dropping their case
against Ara Aprahamian, who had pleaded not guilty in
Philadelphia federal court to charges including price-fixing and
bid-rigging.
    "Dismissal of this case is not contrary to manifest public
interest, and it will allow the conservation of this court's
time and resources," prosecutors said. 
    They did not explain why the government was dropping the
case, which was still in the evidence collection and sharing
stage.
    The Justice Department declined to comment. A lawyer for
Aprahamian, Bob Gage, did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
    Taro in July 2020 agreed to pay more than $200 million to
resolve criminal price-fixing allegations amid a broad crackdown
by the Justice Department on alleged pricing abuses in the
generic drug market.
    Taro is now owned by India's Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.
A spokesperson for Sun on Thursday did not immediately respond
to a request for comment.
    In 2020, a former executive of Novartis unit Sandoz, Hector
Armando Kellum, pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme to
fix prices for generic medicines.
    Prosecutors in that case had alleged Aprahamian was one of
Kellum's co-conspirators. Kellum agreed to cooperate,
prosecutors said.
    Kellum's sentencing is set for April 30, 2024, in U.S.
District Judge R. Barclay Surrick's court. Attorneys for Kellum
did not immediately respond to a request for comment on
Thursday.
    
    The case is United States v. Ara Aprahamian, U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,
2:20-cr-00064-RBS.  
    For United States: Kristina Srica of the Justice Department
    For Aprahamian: Bob Gage of Gage Spencer & Fleming
    
    Read more:
    Former executive of Taro Pharmaceutical indicted in U.S. for
price-fixing
    Ex-Sandoz executive pleads guilty in U.S. generic drug
price-fixing scheme

 (Reporting by Mike Scarcella)
 ((Mike.Scarcella@thomsonreuters.com;))