Bristol pleads guilty in Plavix anti-trust case
Executive Summary
Bristol-Myers Squibb agrees to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay as much as $1 million to settle a federal investigation of the firm's failed efforts to stave off market entry of Apotex's generic version of Plavix. The criminal charges stem from false statements made to the Federal Trade Commission by a former Bristol executive during the agency's antitrust review of an agreement between Bristol and Apotex, which received FDA approval for generic clopidogrel in January 2006. Bristol allegedly made verbal agreements with Apotex that were not included in written documents submitted to FTC (1"The Pink Sheet" March 27, 2006, p. 16). The plea is the culmination of a series of Plavix-related events that included to the ouster of Bristol's then-CEO, Peter Dolan...