Bristol Myers to pay 10 million shekels to settle Israel anti-competition charges
The company is required to make the payment within 60 days
BIOPHARMACEUTICAL company Bristol Myers Squibb has agreed to pay about 10 million shekels (S$3.6 million) in Israel to settle a potential case over its blocking of a generic version for anti-cancer drug, Imnovid, the Israel Competition Authority said on Monday (Jul 1).
The anti-trust agency reported that Bristol and Neopharm Scientific, which is the Israeli distributor of Imnovid, declined a request by KS Kim International for drug samples to make a copycat version of the drug.
The anti-cancer drug is used for the treatment of multiple myeloma and Aids-related Kaposi sarcoma, which is a disease in which cancer cells are found in the skin or mucous membranes that line the gastrointestinal tract.
The drugmakers provided the samples after five months. However, the competition authority noted that this delayed competition for the important drug.
Bristol, which has to make the payment within 60 days, and Neopharm were not immediately available to comment.
“We want to send a message to companies that have a dominant position in the market that they cannot act in a manner that is likely to reduce competition,” Jonathan Cwikel, deputy legal counsel for civil and administrative affairs said.
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The authority intended to fine Neopharm 64 million shekels, and an unnamed company executive about 600,000 shekels.
The deputy legal counsel said that even before it was able to issue a similar letter to Bristol, the company offered the authority to settle.
In signing the consent decree and paying 10 million shekels Bristol rejected any responsibility and did not admit any liability, Cwikel noted.
“On our part, we did not finalise our inquiry so we don’t have any formal decision against them,” he added.
So far, Neopharm has decided not to settle and will be presenting oral arguments at a hearing on Monday, the deputy legal counsel reported. REUTERS
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