Allergan to pay $600-mn fine in Botox probe

WASHINGTON: Allergan, maker of the wrinkle smoother Botox, agreed to pay $600 million and plead guilty to a single misdemeanour charge in settling a US investigation of its marketing practices.

Allergan will pay $375 million to the government as part of a “misbranding” charge that the marketing of Botox from 2000 to 2005 led to intended use in treating headache, pain, muscle stiffness and juvenile cerebral palsy, which weren’t approved by the Food and Drug Administration during that time. Allergan will also pay $225 million to resolve civil claims from the Justice Department, the company said today in a statement.

The global settlement concludes a two-and-a-half year investigation that some analysts have said has held up FDA approval for treatment of migraines. Botox, already Allergan’s top product with $1.3 billion in annual sales, may generate an additional $1 billion with use in migraines, according to Aaron Gal, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein in New York.