Amgen Inc., a California-based biotechnology company, will pay $24.9 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act.

Amgen develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceutical products, including products sold under the trade name Aranesp.

The settlement resolves allegations that Amgen paid kickbacks to long-term care pharmacy providers Omnicare Inc., PharMerica Corporation and Kindred Healthcare Inc. in return for implementing “therapeutic interchange” programs that were designed to switch Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries from a competitor drug to Aranesp.

The government alleged that the kickbacks took the form of performance-based rebates that were tied to market-share or volume thresholds.

The government also alleged that, as part of the therapeutic interchange program, Amgen distributed materials to consultant pharmacists and nursing home staff encouraging the use of Aranesp for patients who did not have anemia associated with chronic renal failure.

 “We will continue to pursue pharmaceutical companies that pay kickbacks to long-term care pharmacy providers to influence drug prescribing decisions,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “Patients in skilled nursing facilities deserve care that is free of improper financial influences.”

The False Claims Act suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, and is captioned United States ex rel. Kurnik v. Amgen Inc., et al.