Federal prosecutors accuse execs of fixing drug prices

Federal prosecutors have charged two former pharmaceutical executives with fixing prices of generic drugs, part of an ongoing government investigation into anticompetitive tactics by companies that make lower-cost drugs intended to reduce medication costs.

The Department of Justice accused two former Heritage Pharmaceuticals executives of conspiring to fix prices, rig bids and avoid competing with other drugmakers in marketing two generic drugs. The charges against Jeffrey Glazer, former CEO of Heritage, and Jason Malek, former president with the company, were unsealed Wednesday in Philadelphia.

Prosecutors allege that the executives worked to fix prices on an antibiotic and a diabetes medication between April 2013 and December 2015.

Heritage said in a statement it terminated the executives in August 2016.

Generic drugs account for 90 percent of prescriptions dispensed in the U.S.