FTC Staff Report Finds 60 Percent Increase in Pharmaceutical Industry Deals That Delay Consumers' Access to Lower-Cost Generic Drugs
"Pharmaceutical companies struck an unprecedented number of deals in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 in which the manufacturers of branded products paid potential generic rivals and generic companies agreed to defer the introduction of lower-cost medicines for American consumers, according to an overview of industry data released by the staff of the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC staff report found that the number of these deals skyrocketed more than 60 percent, from 19 in FY 2009 to 31 in FY 2010. Overall, the agreements reached in the latest fiscal year involved 22 different brand-name pharmaceutical products with combined annual U.S. sales of about $9.3 billion..."