Italy punishes Novartis and Roche pharmaceutical for drug sales collusion

The Italian antitrust regulator announced Wednesday it will impose a fine of 90 million euros ($123.6 million) on Swiss pharmaceutical companies Novartis and Roche after it was determined that they had colluded with each other in the sale of an expensive drug to treat serious vision problems The Italian competition authority pointed out that the two companies agreed to sell the jointly marketed expensive drug Lucentis for the treatment of vision problems caused by age-related macular degeneration to doctors, instead of recommending that doctors use Avastin, which was previously used for the treatment of the same disease for a long time and at a lower price According to the penalty decision of the competition authority, the price of Lucentis injection is 900 euros Although it has been greatly reduced compared with the original 1700 euros, the cost of using Avastin injection without brand is only 81 euros at most Novartis and Roche, both based in Basel, the Swiss pharmaceutical industry center, both denied the charges and said they would actively fight the punishment Novartis said that "the company will use its legal power in accordance with the process to fight, and will appeal against the punishment We firmly deny that Novartis and Roche have allegations of anticompetitive practices in Italy " Roche also denied a competitive agreement with Novartis, saying the two drugs contain different active ingredients and are designed to fight completely different diseases Under Italian law, both companies can appeal in the Italian Administrative Court Wednesday's fine marks the end of an investigation that began a year ago The Italian market regulator launched an investigation after receiving complaints from local medical and consumer associations Although the sanctions are only binding on the two companies' operations in Italy, they may also have an impact on their operations elsewhere.