AUMENTO DEI PREZZI DEI FARMACI
PRESS RELEASE
The Antitrust finds six pharmaceutical companies liable for the price-fixing of certain drugs
At the conclusion of two separate investigations, the Authority has ascertained that the Byk Gulden Italia and Istituto Gentili companies in one case, and Merck Sharp & Dohme Italia, Neopharmed, Istituto Gentili, Sigmatau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite and Mediolanum Farmaceutici in the other case, had coordinated their conduct in order to fix the prices of certain drugs. These were all ethical prescription drugs belonging to class C, for which the patient is required to pay the full, deregulated, price. The companies were liable in respect of Section 2(2) of the Antitrust Act, and in view of the seriousness and the duration of the offences, the following fines were applied, equivalent to 3% of the turnover from the drugs forming the subject matter of the investigation:
Byk Gulden Italia lire 422,100,000
Istituto Gentili lire 283,470,000
Merck Sharp & Dohme Italia lire 33,000,000
Istituto Gentili lire 15,420,000
Neopharmed lire 17,100,000
Sigma Tau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite lire 48,600,000
Mediolanum Farmaceutici lire 1,230,000
The investigations followed a fact-finding survey by the Authority, which was completed in November 1997, which revealed numerous parallels between the prices of category C drugs, despite the fact that since November 1995 the pharmaceutical companies had been given complete freedom to set their own prices for their products, and were therefore able to use price as a competitive variable.
The first investigation was into the Byk Gulden Italia and Istituto Gentili companies in relation to drugs for infections of the respiratory tract. These drugs contain the same active principle but are marketed by both companies under different names, under what is defined as a "co-marketing relationship".
The investigations showed that parallel pricing variations existed as a result of an agreement between them, which substantially increased the price of the items to the detriment of consumers. In the instant case, this offence was considered to be particularly serious because of the large market share of these two companies.
The second investigation was into the Merck Sharp & Dohme Italia, Neopharmed, Istituto Gentili, Sigmatau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite and Mediolanum Farmaceutici companies in relation to ethical medicinal specialties based on the same active principle indicated for the treatment of high cholesterol levels.
These drugs were also distributed using the "co-marketing" system, and here again the investigation revealed that the companies had agreed to coordinate their conduct by fixing prices. The prices varied in parallel as the result of a practice agreed upon between competing companies. The effect of this pricing agreement led to a substantial increase in the price of the drugs in question, of about 50 percent in a mere ten months.
Rome, 19 March 1999