U.S. Virgin Islands – Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea today joined a coalition of 43 states and territories announcing a $400 million settlement in principle with Sandoz Inc. to resolve allegations that the generic drug manufacturer engaged in widespread, long-running conspiracies to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition, and unreasonably restrain trade with regard to numerous generic prescription drugs. If approved, Sandoz Inc. will pay a total of approximately $469 million to settle the claims brought by state enforcers, including amounts paid pursuant to previous settlements with other states. The settlement will also resolve allegations that Sandoz Inc.’s past and present international affiliates, Novartis AG, Sandoz AG, and Sandoz Group AG, participated in the alleged anticompetitive conduct and fraudulently transferred assets in order to avoid liability. As part of the settlement in principle, Sandoz has agreed to meaningful injunctive terms including a series of internal reforms to ensure fair competition and compliance with antitrust laws. This settlement is contingent upon obtaining signatures from all necessary states and territories and comes as the States prepare for an anticipated trial in 2027.
The States have also secured settlements in the same litigation with Glenmark, Lannett, Bausch, Apotex and Heritage totaling approximately $96.5 million.
“Generic prescription drugs are intended to make healthcare more affordable, not become the subject of unlawful schemes that drive up costs for consumers,” said Attorney General Rhea. “This settlement reflects the commitment of attorneys general across the country to hold companies accountable for anticompetitive conduct that undermines the marketplace and places an unnecessary financial burden on patients, families, healthcare providers, and government programs. We are proud to take this stand to protect consumers and promote fair competition.”
If approved, the U.S. Virgin Islands’ share of the settlement is expected to be approximately $228,000.
The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office is leading a coalition of nearly all states and territories in a series of antitrust cases, starting first in 2016. The first complaint included Heritage and 17 other corporate defendants, two individual defendants, and 15 generic drugs. Two former executives from Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Jeffery Glazer and Jason Malek, have since entered into settlement agreements and are cooperating. The second complaint was filed in 2019 against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 20 of the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers. The complaint names 16 individual senior executive defendants. The third complaint, to be tried first, focuses on 80 topical generic drugs that account for billions of dollars of sales in the United States and names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individual defendants. The States filed a fourth complaint earlier this year, alleging that Novartis AG, Sandoz Group AG and Sandoz AG, are liable for Sandoz’s alleged conduct and for fraudulently transferring assets. Seven pharmaceutical executives have been cooperating to support the States’ claims in these four cases.
The cases all stem from a series of investigations built on evidence from several cooperating witnesses at the core of the different conspiracies, a massive document database of over 20 million documents, and a phone records database containing millions of call detail records and contact information for over 600 sales and pricing individuals in the generics industry. Each complaint addresses a different set of drugs and defendants and lays out an interconnected web of competing industry executives that met with each other during industry dinners, “girls’ nights out,” lunches, cocktail parties, golf outings and communicated via frequent telephone calls, emails and text messages that sowed the seeds for their illegal agreements. Throughout the complaints, defendants use terms like “fair share,” “playing nice in the sandbox,” and “responsible competitor” to describe how they unlawfully discouraged competition, raised prices and enforced an ingrained culture of collusion. Among the records obtained by the States is a two-volume notebook containing the contemporaneous notes of one of the States’ cooperators that memorialized his discussions during phone calls with competitors and internal company meetings over a period of several years.
In addition to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Attorney General Tong is joined in securing this settlement in principle by the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2026
Sandra Goomansingh
Media Relations Director
(340)774-5666 ext. 10105
Email: Sandra.goomansingh@doj.vi.gov