5 European Pharmaceutical Companies Sanctioned in Romania for Anti-competitive Behaviour

The Competition Council in Romania has imposed fines on five international pharmaceutical companies with millions of euros after some investigations on Romania pharmaceutical market. The investigation shows that the five pharmaceutical companies adopted anti-competitive behaviour in the country.

According to Agerpress, the Competition Council sanctioned five pharmaceutical companies, suppliers of immunoglobulins and other human plasma-derived drugs, and the representative association of the plasma protein therapy manufacturers – PPTA (Belgium) with fines totalling EUR 71 million.

As a national competition authority that ensures the application of the federal and Community rules on competition, the Competition Council started an investigation in 2018 on the pharmaceutical market and found that these companies adopted a strategy aimed at limiting and even interrupting the supply of the Romanian market with immunoglobulins, to put pressure on the authorities to suspend the clawback tax for medicines derived from human blood or human plasma.

Who are the European companies investigated and sanctioned by the Romanian authorities?

According to a statement from the competition authority, the companies who sought financial advantages are Baxalta Gmbh, Switzerland – 22.5 million euro; CSL Behring Gmbh, Germany – 15 million euro; Biotest AG, Germany – 5 million euro; Kedrion Spa, Italy – 3.26 million euro; Octapharma AG, Switzerland – 25.34 million euro; PPTA, Belgium: 71,000 euro.

By analyzing the events, we can conclude that all these companies endangered patients’ lives for their financial gain. Immunoglobulins are essential for patients with severe health conditions, for its a medical treatment for numerous diseases characterized by antibody deficiency. These pharmaceutical companies generated a crisis through this marketing strategy urging the authorities to take immediate measures to provide patients with the necessary medicines, therefore suspending the clawback charge for drugs.