Pharmaceutical companies have also employed the "pay-to-delay" strategy in which they enter into reverse payment agreements with generic companies to delay the generic drug's manufacturer. This was the case in 2008, when an agreement between AstraZeneca and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. ("Ranbaxy") was reached to delay Ranbaxy's launch of a generic version of AstraZeneca's patented heartburn drug Nexium until 2014.
