Press Release: Antitrust: Commission fines Johnson & Johnson and Novartis € 16 million for delaying market entry of generic pain-killer fentanyl

The European Commission on 10 December 2013 imposed fines of € 10,798,000 on the US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and € 5,493,000 on Novartis of Switzerland.

In July 2005, their respective Dutch subsidiaries concluded an anticompetitive agreement to delay the market entry of a cheaper generic version of the pain-killer fentanyl in the Netherlands, in breach of EU antitrust rules. Fentanyl is a pain-killer 100 times more potent than morphine. It is used notably for patients suffering from cancer.

ESO: Background information: Antitrust: Commission opens proceedings against Johnson & Johnson and Novartis http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-antitrust-commission-opens-proceedings-against-johnson-johnson-and-novartis/

ESO: Background information: Antitrust: Commission sends Statement of Objections to J&J and Novartis on delayed entry of generic pain-killer http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-antitrust-commission-sends-statement-of-objections-to-jj-and-novartis-on-delayed-entry-of-generic-pain-killer/

European Commission: RAPID: Speech, SPEECH/13/1053: Fentanyl case http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-1053_en.pdf

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