Merck, Reckitt Benckiser fined by French watchdog
pharmafile | December 20, 2013 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Sales and Marketing | FCA, Merck, Reckitt Benckiser, generics, subutex
Merck & Co and Reckitt Benckiser have collectively been fined millions of euros by French authorities over their role in a ‘smear campaign’ against generic competition to their addiction drug.
The treatment in question – Subutex (buprenorphine and naloxone) which is licensed for opioid addiction – was developed by Merck & Co subsidiary Schering-Plough and supplied in Europe by UK-based Reckitt Benckiser.
On top of the €15.3 million fine, the French Competition Authority handed out an additional penalty of €414,000 to parent Merck & Co, and €318,000 to Reckitt Benckiser for ‘anti-competitive behaviour’ when they began a campaign against generics in late 2005.
The decision follows a complaint filed by Actavis-owned generics maker Arrow Generiques against Schering-Plough.
The firm complained against Schering’s communication practices towards pharmacists, which the watchdog said were designed to discourage them from ordering generic versions of Subutex.
In a statement the French competition watchdog said Schering-Plough, which was taken over by Merck in 2009, had “disparaged Arrow’s generic drug in its sales pitches” and granted pharmacists “unjustified discounts to prompt them to stock up on Subutex instead”.
“We are reviewing the decision and considering appropriate next steps,” a Merck spokeswoman told Reuters.
Earlier this year, the French Competition Authority handed Sanofi a €40.6-million fine for disparaging a generic version of its Plavix blood thinner.
This latest penalty comes as more austerity-hit governments around the world try to discourage the use of ‘pay-for-delay’ deals, whereby cheaper generics are artificially kept off the market by the patent holders of ageing medicines.
Both Europe and the US have ramped up pressure on these deals in recent years with millions of dollars’ worth of fines being handed out this year alone.
End of the line
Reckitt Benckiser announced in the summer that it was considering spinning off its pharmaceuticals business, which centres on Suboxone, the treatment given long-term after initial use of Subutex.
The US accounts for more than three-quarters of Suboxone’s sales, which fell 14% to £191 million in the third quarter, as in February US regulators approved two generic versions of the drug.
Reckitt said it would update shareholders during the course of 2014 about how it would proceed with any sale of the unit.
Ben Adams
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