Romanian Competition Authority Opens Investigation Against Immunoglobulin Suppliers following On-Site Inspections in Belgium, Italy and Romania
- 03/07/2018
- Articles
The Romanian Competition Authority, the “Consiliul Concurenţei” (the “CC”), announced today that it has opened an investigation into possibly anticompetitive conduct of immunoglobulin suppliers. Immunoglobulins (or antibodies) are glycoprotein molecules produced by plasma cells (white blood cells). They form part of the immune response by recognising and binding to particular antigens, such as bacteria and viruses, and aiding in their destruction.
The CC seeks to find out whether the immunoglobulin suppliers conspired to create a shortage on the Romanian market in order to preclude their sales from reaching financial thresholds that would have triggered the application of a clawback levy and a less favourable tax regime. The immunoglobulin suppliers would also have benefited from inflated profits.
Targeted companies include Baxalta; Baxter; Biotest Pharma; CSL Behring; Kedrion and Octopharma. The investigation is also directed against the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association, which represents private sector manufacturers of plasma-derived and recombinant analogue therapies, collectively known as plasma protein therapies, and the collectors of source plasma used for fractionation.
Significantly, the CC could rely on the help of other national competition authorities to collect evidence during on-site inspections. The CC indicated that such “dawn raids” were not only carried out in Romania, but also in Belgium and Italy.
