DRL to defend against price fixing conspiracy allegation

New Delhi: Drug maker Dr Reddy's on Tuesday said it will 'vigorously defend' against allegations that it engaged in conspiracy to fix prices in the US.

In a regulatory filing, the company said it was among the 21 generic pharmaceutical companies and 15 other individual defendants against whom 49 US states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia had filed a complaint in the US District Court for the District of Connecticut with respect to 116 generic drugs.

"The complaint alleges that Dr Reddy's US subsidiary and the other named defendants engaged in a conspiracy to fix prices and to allocate bids and customers in the United States in the sale of the drugs," the company said.

Reacting to the lawsuit, Dr Reddy's said, "We intend to vigorously defend against these allegations and are in the process of filing our response with the District Court of Connecticut."

It further said, "Currently, we do not foresee any material impact to our operations and consolidated results with respect to this matter."

The company said its US subsidiary is specifically named as a defendant with respect to five generic drugs (Ciprofloxacin HCL tablets, Glimepiride tablets, Oxaprozin tablets, Paricalcitol and Tizanidine), for an alleged "overarching conspiracy."