Former Novartis exec pleads guilty in generics price-fixing conspiracy

Amid an industrywide price-fixing probe that has caught some of the largest generics players, another former executive faces federal charges––this time from Novartis’ generics unit.

Hector Armando Kellum, a former senior executive at Sandoz, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for his role in a scheme to fix prices for a range of the drugmaker’s products. Kellum faces 10 years in prison and a $1M fine. In exchange for his plea, he agreed to cooperate with the ongoing federal investigation.