Sandoz, the generics and biosimilars spinout of Novartis, has struck a pair of settlement agreements to resolve long-running antitrust litigation brought by US state and federal enforcers.
The company announced it had agreed to settle generic drug pricing claims brought by 43 US states and territories, which, if approved, would resolve all remaining governmental claims against it.
A coalition of 43 states and territories announced a $400 million settlement in principle with Sandoz Inc. to resolve allegations that the company engaged in widespread, long-running conspiracies to artificially inflate and manipulate prices.
The states also alleged that Sandoz worked to reduce competition and unreasonably restrain trade with regard to numerous generic prescription drugs over a sustained period.
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, including Novartis AG, Sandoz AG, and Sandoz Group AG, participated in the alleged anticompetitive conduct and fraudulently transferred assets to avoid liability.
Sandoz will pay about $478.5 million in total to resolve remaining US government claims and its final pending class action, leaving only opt-out plaintiff cases outstanding.
The $400 million in payments is staggered over seven years rather than a single lump sum, reflecting an increasingly common approach to managing multistate antitrust exposure without disrupting near-term financial guidance.
The Swiss drugmaker stressed that the settlements carry no admission of wrongdoing and will not affect its 2026 guidance or mid-term outlook.
The latest agreements follow a string of earlier settlement moves by both Sandoz and its former parent Novartis, which pledged nearly $400 million between 2020 and 2021 tied to industry-wide price-fixing allegations between 2013 and 2015.
In February 2024, shortly after striking out on its own following its October 2023 spinout, Sandoz put forward $265 million to settle with certain purchasers in litigation it inherited from Novartis.
Together, the cumulative deals position Sandoz to “have resolved all pending class actions in the US generic antitrust litigation, as well as all claims filed by any US federal or state government,” the company said.
The litigation stretches back roughly a decade, arising during a period of heightened public and political concern over the rising cost of prescription medicines, including generic drugs widely considered more affordable alternatives.