Uber loses more than $1bn in first quarterly report since IPO

Uber lost more than $1bn in the first three months of the year, the ride-sharing company announced on Thursday.

The company is spending heavily as it attempts to grow its market and head off rivals including Lyft, which is also losing billions. Investors – and even the company – have worried that Uber may never make a profit. read more »

Pharmaceutical Company Admits to Price Fixing in Violation of Antitrust Law, Resolves Related False Claims Act Violations

Heritage Pharmaceuticals Agrees to Pay More than $7 Million in Criminal Penalty and Civil Damages and to Cooperate with Ongoing Parallel Investigations in the Generics Industry.

Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc., a generic pharmaceutical company headquartered in Eatontown, New Jersey, was charged for conspiring with its competitors to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers, the Department of Justice announced today. read more » 

Johnson & Johnson boosted opioid sales via 'cynical brainwashing', court hears

Johnson & Johnson, the drug giant best known for its baby products, has been accused of “a cynical, deceitful multimillion-dollar brainwashing campaign” to drive up sales of its powerful painkillers at the opening of the first trial of a pharmaceutical giant over the US opioid epidemic.

The state of Oklahoma is suing Johnson & Johnson for damages, claiming that it worked to push opioids to people who did not need the drugs in competition with Purdue Pharma, whose high strength OxyContin was a leading driver of the epidemic that has claimed 400,000 lives in the US over the past two decades.

The case sets the stage for about 2,000 other civil lawsuits by US states, cities and Native American tribes looking for a settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors to match the $246bn paid by the tobacco companies 21 years ago over their misrepresentation of the dangers of smoking. read more »