After getting a green light from a federal appeals court last year, drug makers have once again started to pay generic manufacturers to drop their patent challenges. The Federal Trade Commission found there were at least seven generic pacts signed so far this year and three inked last year. And the FTC chief made it clear that if the appeals court ruling stands, drug makers will continue to use their check books to ward off generic competition and pass the bill on to the public by forcing them to continue to pay brand drug prices. Cephalon, for example, struck deals with four generic drug makers, agreeing to give them $136 million in licensing fees in exchange for their agreement not to produce a copycat version of the sleep drug Provigil.
- here's the Washington Post article