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# California Law Combats ‘Pay-for-Delay’ Agreements
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/california-law-combats-pay-for-delay-agreements/
- Published: 2019-10-08T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T01:54:50.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5145197

California Gov. **Gavin Newsom** has signed state legislation to combat “illegal, secretive deals between pharmaceutical companies in which one drug company pays its competitor to delay the competitor’s research, production, or sale of a competing version of its drug.” A [news release](https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-assemblymember-wood-california-enacts-first-nation-law?ref=fdaweb.com) from state attorney general **Xavier Becerra** says California’s is the first state law to take on so-called pay-for-delay agreements.

The law is to take effect 1/1/20 and would presume the agreements are anti-competitive and delay entry of the generic drug into the marketplace. It also limits the ability of drug companies to use attorney-client and common-interest legal privileges to withhold relevant evidence regarding the collusive agreements. The release says the bill “establishes a stronger platform to investigate and prosecute these illegal and harmful drug pricing practices.”