Pharma giant Eli Lilly, maker of Zyprexa, is said to be in conversation with the federal government to pay $1 billion to settle charges over its promotional activities, reports the New York Times. Zyprexa is the company's block buster drug for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and last year accounted for $4.8 billion in sales, about one-quarter of Lilly’s revenue. In the past two years, the company has been hit by more than 25,000 claims for failure to warn about serious side-effects, especially weight gain leading to metabolic syndrome. Hometown paper, Indianapolis Star, reports that it recently settled another 900 personal-injury claims, but still faces civil charges in Alaska next month.
Zyprexa retains patent protection for another four years. Currently, with a price tag of roughly $300 a month, it is one of the bigger expenses for Medicaid.
