TENDERS FOR SUPPLY OF OSTOMY DEVICES
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
ANTITRUST OPENS INQUIRY INTO POSSIBLE ANTI-COMPETITIVE ARRANGEMENT IN THE MEDICAL SUPPLIES MARKET
Four producers of ostomy devices involved
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 20 July 2006, decided to launch an investigation into the conduct of BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB S.p.A., B. BRAUN MILANO S.p.A., HOLLISTER S.p.A. and COLOPLAST S.p.A. regarding an alleged arrangement whose effects may have been to restrict or distort competition in the supply of ostomy devices. Specifically, such an arrangement may have existed regarding supplies to the Ferrara USL (Local Health Unit) for clinics in the Provinces of Bologna and Ferrara, though it cannot be ruled out that the alleged anti-competitive conduct will need to be judged in a wider context.
The Authority's proceeding is based on the similarity of the companies' response to a request for bids by the Ferrara Local Health Unit. The four companies, which together cover practically the whole of the national market, did not present tenders - despite being pre-qualified - in the call for private bids by the Ferrara Local Health Unit in August 2003. In the same way, they did not present tenders in the subsequent private negotiation in June 2004, when invited to do so. Finally, they participated in the private tender process in December 2004, where the call for bids was different from the previous one which had been ignored, in that it did not involve any real competitive comparison among the companies.
In the Authority's view, this parallel conduct could be the result, not of an independent choice on the part of each company, but rather of an orchestrated response aiming to coordinate their marketing policies with the goal of conditioning demand from public entities and eliminating or at least limiting competition, so as to keep their market shares stable over time. The inquiry must be completed by 31 July 2007.
Rome, 1 August 2006