Canadian Court Rejects ICN Pharmaceutical Claim
A Canadian federal appeals court threw out a claim by ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. that challenged a government agency’s jurisdiction over the drug company’s prices for its main drug, Virazole.
Two weeks ago, the Canadian agency, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, ordered the drug company to pay a fine and penalties totaling $1.8 million for “excessively” overcharging hospitals for the drug. Virazole, the brand name for ribavirin, treats infants who have been hospitalized with lower respiratory-tract infections.
In the last three years, ICN jacked up the price of a 12-hour dose of the drug to $1,540 (Canadian) from $400. The order requires the company to cut the price to about $200 (Canadian) until ICN compensates for the overcharges.
Now that the appeals court has upheld the agency’s jurisdiction, an ICN spokesman said the company plans to mount a separate appeal of the agency’s order itself. ICN is the only company that hasn’t voluntarily complied with an order in the agency’s nine-year history.
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