WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A former executive of Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd pleaded guilty on Friday to participating in a scheme to fix prices for generic medicines.
The Justice Department said former executive Hector Armando Kellum had pleaded guilty to working to fix the prices of clobetasol, used to treat eczema and psoriasis, and nystatin triamcinolone cream, an anti-fungal drug that also has a corticosteroid.
Alembic’s website lists Kellum as a vice president of sales and marketing. Kellum, contacted through Alembic, did not respond to a request for comment.
The government said one of Kellum’s alleged co-conspirators was Ara Aprahamian, a former sales and marketing executive at Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, who was also indicted for price-fixing and bid-rigging.
U.S. drug pricing has become a political issue in recent years amid complaints that some drugs, including medicines on the market for decades, have seen sharp price increases.
Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Tom Brown