FTC Sues Shire ViroPharma for Using Illegal Tactics to Block Generic Competition
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Shire ViroPharma on Tuesday, accusing it of abusing government processes in order to fend off generic competition to its antibiotic Vancocin HCl, the agency said in a statement.
The company filed repeated and "unsupported filings" with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2006 and 2012 in order to slow approval of generic competitors to Vancocin, the FTC said.
ViroPharma, which has since been purchased by Shire PLC, began filing petitions with the FDA in 2006 when the agency set a streamlined procedure for proving that generic rivals were the same chemically as Vancocin.
The company filed repeated and "unsupported filings" with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2006 and 2012 in order to slow approval of generic competitors to Vancocin, the FTC said.
ViroPharma, which has since been purchased by Shire PLC, began filing petitions with the FDA in 2006 when the agency set a streamlined procedure for proving that generic rivals were the same chemically as Vancocin.