Sandoz, a subsidiary of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, has agreed to pay $195 million to avoid trial on charges it conspired to fix prices of generic drugs, US prosecutors announced Monday. "The company agreed to pay a $195 million criminal penalty and admitted that its sales affected by the charged conspiracies exceeded $500 million," the Department of Justice said in a statement. "Under the deferred prosecution agreement, Sandoz has agreed to cooperate fully" with the ongoing criminal investigation cs/hs