April 15 (Reuters) - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ( REGN )

said on Monday it seeks to defend against U.S. Department of

Justice's complaint that alleged the company misreported the

average sales price of its macular degeneration drug Eylea.

"Reimbursing credit card service fees to distributors is not

a price concession and does not affect EYLEA's price," Regeneron

said in a statement, adding that it considered the complaint to

be "meritless".

The DOJ last week, in a complaint filed in federal court in

Boston, alleged the drugmaker failed for years to report how it

paid hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize Eylea

purchases by reimbursing drug distributors for credit-card

processing fees.

The drug, which the Tarrytown, New York-based company began

marketing in 2011, is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration for treating conditions including wet age-related

macular degeneration, which impairs vision.