AstraZeneca Settles Pricing Suit For $103Mln, Denies Wrongdoing

18th Jun 2010 22:17

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) said it would settle a class-action suit over its pricing for wholesale drugs for $103 million even though it believes its pricing and marketing practices were lawful. The suit claimed the company inflated the average wholesale price of expensive drugs, according to the law firm handling the case, which said the wholesale price is used as a benchmark for almost all prescription drugs in the country. AstraZeneca spokesman Tony Jewell said Friday that although the company denies any liability and wrongdoing, the settlement is the best way to resolve the matter and focus on its core business. "AstraZeneca is committed to adhering to all government laws and regulations concerning drug pricing, including the proper reporting of drug pricing as required by law," Last September, the company lost its appeal of a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs claiming the price inflation, leading to the class-action settlement. The case was originally filed in 2002 over the price of the company's cancer drug Zoladex. According to the law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, Friday's settlement gives $13 million for two classes of plaintiffs in Massachusetts and $90 million to class members in the U.S. outside the commonwealth who purchased these drugs and fit the same class descriptions. The settlement needs court approval to be final. AstraZeneca shares were flat in after-hours activity at $45.50. The stock has risen only modestly in the last year, underperforming stocks at large. -By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 18, 2010 17:17 ET (21:17 GMT)