Price collusion of pharmaceutical companies in the USA

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed charges against former CEO of the pharmaceutical company Hermitage Pharmaceutical Inc., Jeffrey Gleser, and former president of the company, Jason Malek, who are suspected of colluding with other drug manufacturers to maintain inflated prices for antibiotics and diabetes medications, according to Bloomberg News. Hermitage is a relatively small company, but the testimony of its top managers could implicate significantly larger firms in the investigation.

These are the first charges in a case that has been under investigation for two years. As Bloomberg reports, citing informed sources, the accused are prepared to plead guilty at the court hearing. Their cooperation with the investigation could lead to charges against executives of other pharmaceutical companies, the agency's source noted.

Representatives from the companies Mylan, Endo International, Lannett, and Teva have already been summoned to testify; their shares fell by 2–2.5% on the stock exchange following this news.

In November 2016, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) initiated 53 antitrust cases in the field of pharmaceutical procurement. The objects of review were more than 2,000 auctions with a total value of about 10 billion rubles.