Brussels. Two years after the European Commission introduced this, it is coming to an end Antitrust lawsuit against Vifor The pharmaceutical industry is coming to an end. As the Commission announced on Monday, the company has made commitments that “resolved the competition concerns related to the possible discrediting of Monofer® to be eliminated by Vifor”.
Monofer Iron Preparation® is marketed by the Danish family-owned company Pharmacosmos. According to the Commission, Pharmacosmos is “the closest – and possibly the only – competitor” of Vifor and its market-leading iron preparation, Ferinject.®. Vifor was accused of providing misleading information about the safety of its competing product.
“Possibly abuse”
As to the outcome of the antitrust investigation, it says vaguely: “According to the Commission’s preliminary opinion, Vifor’s conduct may have restricted competition in the market for intravenous iron preparations and may constitute an abuse of a dominant position.”
In order to address the Commission’s concerns, Vifor then offered certain commitments which were tested in the market in April and May this year. Following feedback from potentially affected third parties, Vifor further adjusted its commitment offer.
The manufacturer will then, among other things, launch a broad communication campaign “to address the consequences of its potentially misleading information about the safety of Monofer® correct and withdraw”. Furthermore, Vifor undertakes not to make any statements about the safety profile of the Danish competitor product in the future that are not based on its expert information or on clinical comparison studies between Ferinject® and monoferous® come over.
Violations can be costly
A “monitoring administrator” appointed by Vifor will monitor compliance with the voluntary commitment for ten years, it said. The Commission could punish breaches of the commitments with fines: up to ten percent of a supplier’s total annual turnover or five percent of daily turnover for each day of non-compliance.
The now-completed process stems from the time when Vifor operated independently and was listed on the stock exchange as the successor to the Swiss Galenica Group. At the end of 2021, the blood product and vaccine manufacturer CSL made a takeover bid for Vifor. Since mid-2022, the dialysis and nephrology-focused business has been officially part of the CSL Group, headquartered in Australia. (cw)