The U.S. filed its first charges in a generic drug price-fixing probe on Wednesday, according to a report.
The Justice Department charged two former Heritage Pharmaceuticals executives in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported. Former CEO Jeffrey Glazer and former President Jason Malek were accused of colluding with other generic pharmaceutical companies to fix prices, following a two year investigation, the report said.
The antitrust investigation includes more than a dozen companies and two dozen drugs, the publication said, citing people familiar with the matter. Several pharmaceutical companies — including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Mylan — have received subpoenas and are cooperating, Bloomberg reported.
Shares of Teva, Mylan and Perrigo were down more than 2 percent, following the report. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF was also down slightly.
A company spokesperson for Heritage Pharmaceuticals told CNBC it is fully cooperating with the Justice Department's investigation, and recently initiated its own legal action against the individuals named in the complaint. The company's full statement is below:
"In August 2016, following an internal investigation that revealed a variety of serious misconduct by the individuals charged today, Heritage Pharmaceuticals terminated them. We are fully cooperating with all aspects of the Department of Justice's continuing investigation. Recently Heritage initiated its own legal action against these same individuals to seek redress for an elaborate embezzlement and self-dealing scheme. We are deeply disappointed by the misconduct and are committed to ensuring it does not happen again."