Amgen Pays $15 Million|for Kickbacks

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Amgen paid $15 million to settle federal charges of paying kickbacks to doctors to prescribe its cancer drug Xgeva.

Amgen, a biopharmaceutical company based in Thousand Oaks, paid the money to settle charges of False Claims Act and Medicare kickback violations, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Xgeva (denosumab), approved by the US FDA in 2010, is most commonly used for patients taking chemotherapy for metastatic bone disease.

Amgen called its kickbacks "Deep Dive contracts," the U.S. attorney said in a statement.

The case originated as a whistleblower complaint. The two Amgen employees who filed it - William Davis and Spencer Miller - will receive a total $2.75 million from the settlement.

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