Finance and Economic

AstraZeneca PLC said Friday that it will appeal a U.S. court’s finding that it fraudulently inflated drug prices charged to the state of Alabama.

A state court in Alabama ordered the drug company to pay $215 million in compensatory and punitive damages after finding that it had overcharged for drugs for 15 years.

"AstraZeneca maintains that this lawsuit is legally and factually unfounded," the company said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

"The case was based on the misleading premise that the Alabama State Medicaid Agency did not understand how drug prices are established and reported."

Alabama Attorney General Troy King King in 2005 sued more than 70 drug companies quick payday loans. AstraZeneca (AZN) was the first case to come to trial. 

Source