The DOJ’s Generic Drug Antitrust Investigation May Be Just Beginning

Late last month, generic pharmaceutical companies in the United States received a signal that the Department of Justice's ("DOJ") Antitrust Division may be widening the scope of its federal investigation of potential antitrust violations in the generic drug industry when a third generic drug maker disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had received a grand jury subpoena for "documents related to communications with competitors" regarding the sale and supply of generic drugs. The government's investigation into potential anticompetitive practices in the generic drug market began in late 2014 when it issued grand jury subpoenas to two generic drug makers. Those two subpoenas were followed by a November 20, 2014 congressional hearing at which Congress sought to determine the cause for the recent and sharp increases in the costs of numerous generic drugs. Prior to the hearing, congressional leaders sent letters to fourteen generic drug