Today, the European Commission (the Commission) imposed a fine of EUR 489,000 on Alchem on account of its participation in a cartel in the pharmaceutical sector (see, attached press release). The cartel members had agreed to fix the minimum sales price of N-Butylbromide Scopolamine/Hyoscine (SNBB) which is the active ingredient of the anti-cramp medicine Buscopan® and its generic versions. They had also allocated quotas for SNBB and exchanged commercially sensitive information. The cartel was in operation between November 2005 and September 2019.

The Commission thus closed a “hybrid” infringement procedure as it had already secured a settlement agreement with 6 other cartel members in October 2023 (see, Van Bael & Bellis Life Sciences News & Insights of 19 October 2023). Today’s fine is comparatively modest in the light of the fines which the Commission imposed in 2023 in a range between EUR 98,000 and EUR 10,401,000. One cartel member benefited from immunity from fines because it had brought the cartel to light.

In a statement, Commissioner Ribera, responsible for competition policy, painted the Commission’s enforcement effort as “key to unlocking affordable access to essential medicines”.