European Commission Punishes Cartel in Pharmaceutical Sector
- 19/10/2023
- News
The European Commission (Commission) announced today that it imposed a total fine of EUR 13.4 million on 6 members of a cartel in the pharmaceutical sector (see, attached press release). The 6 firms allegedly 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. The targeted companies also allocated quotas for SNBB and exchanged commercially sensitive information. The cartel covered the entire European Economic Area and was in operation from November 2005 until September 2019.
The 6 firms accepted liability and entered into a settlement agreement with the Commission. Of these 6 firms, one escaped a fine because it had revealed the cartel to the Commission. A 7th alleged cartel member refused to settle and is as a result the subject of a continuing infringement procedure.
Interestingly, the case marks the first occasion on which the Commission penalised a cartel in the pharmaceutical sector. It did so with the help of both the Australian and the Swiss cartel authorities with which it coordinated specific investigative activities.
