Sanofi-Aventis agreed to pay $182.8 million plus interest to resolve lawsuits under the federal Claims Act relating to Anzemet and involving predecessor company Aventis Pharmaceuticals.
The US government alleged that Aventis inflated the price for Anzemet, a drug used in conjunction with other cancer treatments, causing the government to overpay for Anzemet for a seven years, between 1997 through 2004.
Anzemet was introduced in 1997 and is provided to cancer patients to prevent nausea and vomiting that can accompany some types of chemotherapy.
Sanofi-Aventis “has decided to resolve this legacy matter through this settlement, without admitting any wrongdoing,” the company said in a statement.
Also as part of the settlement deal, Sanofi-Aventis’ US pharmaceutical subsidiary
has entered into a five-year corporate integrity agreement with the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.