FTC sues Shire ViroPharma for fighting generic entry of Vancocin

WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Shire ViroPharma on Tuesday, accusing it of abusing government processes in order to fend off generic competition to its antibiotic Vancocin HCI, the agency said in a statement.

The company filed repeated and “unsupported filings” with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2006 and 2012 in order to slow approval of generic competitors to Vancocin, the FTC said.

The Irish drug company Shire PLC completed its purchase of ViroPharma in 2014.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Chris Reese)