Generic drug stocks dropped Wednesday, after a report that U.S. regulators filed the first criminal charges in a sweeping investigation into suspected price collusion. The U.S. Justice Department charged two former executives of Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc., former Chief Executive Jeffrey Glazerof, and former President Jason Malek, Bloomberg reported, citing court filings. Heritage was not immediately available for comment. The investigation, which Bloomberg reported last month, involves executives of more than a dozen companies, and alleges they agreed with one another to raise prices. Among the shares of some of the companies mentioned in the report, Mylan N.V.’s slumped 2.1%, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd.’s shed 2.1%, Endo International PLC’s dropped 4%, Lannett Co. Inc.’s slid 1.2%, Impax Laboratories Inc.’s fell 3.6% and Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. declined 0.4%. The SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF , which slipped 0.7% in midday trade, has tumbled 24% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 11%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News