Wyeth gets subpoena from U.S. attorney in Mass.

Monday, March 14th 2005, 10:03 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON(Dow Jones/AP) _ Wyeth Pharmaceuticals said it was served with a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts over pricing practices for its Protonix heartburn drug.

The subpoena seeks documents from January 2000 to the present relating to the company's quarterly calculations of the ``average manufacturer price,'' or AMP, and ``best price'' for Protonix oral tablets and intravenous products, according to Wyeth's annual report filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing didn't say when Wyeth received the subpoena.

AMP and best price are defined terms under the Medicaid Drug Rebate statute and are used to calculate rebates due to state Medicaid programs under that statute, the filing said.

Wyeth, which is based in Madison, N.J., said in its annual report it understands other pharmaceutical companies have received similar subpoenas relating to their calculations of best price from the same U.S. attorney.

The filing didn't indicate what Wyeth plans to do in response to the subpoena.