Executive at Generic Drug Manufacturer Indicted on Price-Fixing Charges

A federal grand jury indicted Ara Aprahamian, an executive at Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, for violating the antitrust laws and for lying to FBI investigators.  Aprahamian is now the third executive charged in the DOJ’s investigation into the generic drug industry, with the other two executives having already pled guilty.  Two manufacturers, Heritage Pharmaceuticals and Rising Pharmaceuticals, similarly admitted to price-fixing in deferred prosecution agreements last year.   

The grand jury indicted Aprahamian on two counts of price-fixing, alleging he participated in two separate conspiracies.  Among other things, the indictment charges Aprahamian with allocating customers and agreeing to prices increases on dozens of drugs, and with at least two different competitors.  These charges were supported by the testimony of four confidential witnesses, each of whom worked for one of the two competitors with which Aprahamian is charged with conspiring.  On top of the antitrust violations, the DOJ also hit Aprahamian with a charge for falsely stating, during the execution of a search warrant at Taro’s headquarters, that “he never had a conversation with a competitor about the pricing of a product before that product was launched.”  In the DOJ’s ongoing investigation, this charge serves as a warning to all other executives at generic drug manufacturers.  The DOJ has made its message clear: "We're not done."

Faruqi & Faruqi represents direct purchasers in a related case, In re Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation.