331 million euros fine, this is the amount that will ultimately have to pay Servier laboratories for delaying the arrival of certain generics.
The European Competition Authority has ruled. Servier laboratories are ordered to pay a fine of 331 million euros “for abuse of a dominant position”. They were accused of having prevented the arrival of generics for the molecule perindopril, a drug used to fight against high blood pressure.
The European Commission accused them in particular of having paid payments to generic manufacturers, so that they do not enter the market, but also of having purchased patents essential to the production of perindopril. The aim of the maneuver was thus to prevent competition from developing generic drugs.
Appeal to the European Court
Servier laboratories, which in 2013 posted a net profit of 315 million euros, announced their intention to file an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights. However, this procedure does not cancel the sentence and they will have to pay the fine.
However, they are not the only ones targeted by the decision of the European Competition Authority. Five generic manufacturers, also involved in the case, will have to pay him a fine, the total amount of which is 427.7 million euros. Among them, the Israeli laboratory Teva, the leading manufacturer of generics in the world.
Delaying the entry of generics onto the market is a frequent practice on the part of large laboratories, and it is not the first time that one of them has been convicted. Last year, it was the Danish Lundbeck who paid a fine of 100 million euros for a similar case.
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