Pharma major Ranbaxy slips on reports of Rs 240 crore fine in US

NEW DELHI: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd slipped as much as 2.2 per cent in trade on Friday, after the pharma major may have to pay Rs 242 crore fine, this time imposed by the State of Texas, people familiar with the matter told ET.

At 09:20 a.m.; Ranbaxy Laboratories was trading 1.8 per cent lower at Rs 631.45. It hit a low of Rs 626.60 and a high of Rs 633.55 in trade today.

The company has been in negotiation with the US state over settlement of this issue for quite some time now, they added. While final details are awaited, one of the persons quoted above said the fine could be broadly split into two components.

One of this, about 38 per cent, could relate to some additional dues that the state may have claimed on account of Ranbaxy's previous slippages from the US-prescribed manufacturing practices, which led to its coughing up $500 million as fine in the US in May last year, said the ET report.

However, a second component of about 61 per cent of the settlement sum could be flowing from an assessment by the US state, which shows that the drug maker has overcharged the state of Texas on one or more drugs under its public-funded Medicaid programme.

ET couldn't verify further specifics of the case, and the office of Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas, refused to comment on the matter.