Drug Companies Beware: FTC Commissioner Kovacic Gets Promoted
William Kovacic, a commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, has been named chairman of the agency. He will replace Deborah Platt Majoras, who is leaving to join the legal department at Procter & Gamble.
Kovacic is former general counsel of the agency, the Associated Press reports. He also taught at George Washington University Law School and practiced law at Bryan Cave.
Because Kovacic is already a commissioner, he does not have to win confirmation as chairman, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). The newspaper says he is a strong proponent of FTC action against drugmakers that pay generic competitors to stay out of the manufacture of patented medicines.
The FTC recently filed a complaint against Cephalon Inc., the maker of the anti-sleepiness drug Provigil, that accuses the company of anti-competitive conduct for paying four manufacturers to refrain from selling generic versions of the drug.
