Romanian Competition Authority Fines Roche for Abusive Conduct Targeting Biosimilars
- 23/01/2020
- Articles
Yesterday, the Romanian Competition Council announced having imposed a fine of almost 60 million Romanian lei (approximately USD 14 million) on Roche’s Romanian subsidiary (see, attached press release). Roche allegedly abused its dominant position on a number of markets. For example, it was found guilty of delaying the market entry of biosimilar versions of rituximab and trastuzumab in order to protect its legacy oncology products. It was also convicted for eliminating competition in public procurement procedures involving these medicines.
Roche also came in the crosshairs of other national competition authorities. In Belgium, the Belgian Competition Authority carried out dawn raids in hospitals and elsewhere in October 2019 to investigate allegations of anticompetitive behaviour with regard to specific biosimilars. Roche acknowledged being one of the targeted entities.
