Ex-exec at Bristol-Myers indicted for lying

A former vice president of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co was indicted for lying to the federal government about a patent deal involving Plavix, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday.

Plavix is a popular blood-thinning drug taken by millions of people to prevent blood clots.

The alleged incident involving Andrew Bodnar occurred two years ago in connection with the possible introduction of a generic drug that would compete with Plavix, the government said in a statement.

Last year, Bristol-Myers agreed to plead guilty and pay a $1 million criminal fine for misleading the government about the Plavix patent deal.

Bodnar was accused of lying to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about his 2006 statements to drugmaker Apotex Inc., according to the one-count indictment filed in federal court in Washington.

At the time, Bristol-Myers was subject to a consent decree, for unrelated conduct, with the FTC that required the company to submit any proposed patent settlements to the FTC for review.

Bodnar was accused of telling Apotex that Bristol-Myers would not launch a generic version of Plavix if Apotex agreed to settle litigation and delay launching its Plavix generic until 2011, the Justice Department said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters)