Merck Fined $21M By French Regulators For Bad Behavior

In response to some bad behavior by the former Schering-Plough, French antitrust regulators have fined the Merck unit about $21 million for a campaign to thwart the introduction of a generic version of the Subutex drug that is used to treat opioid addiction. The decision was taken after reviewing a complaint filed by Arrow Generiques, which launched the generic in March 2006. The Merck (MRK) unit had previously been warned about its practices, which were described as defamation, and manipulating the market by stock saturation and offering pharmacies discounts and longer payment terms. The drugmaker, which had purchased the rights to sell Subutex from Reckitt-Benckiser was ordered to publish a notice stating the brand and generic were equivalent. In reaching its decision, the regulator determined that this amounted to a “predatory strategy” that hindered the substitution rate for the lower cost generic and, as a result, cost the government money. Besides the fine levied against Schering-Plough, Merck must pay another $565,000 and Reckitt will have to fork over $434,000. Subutex, by the way, is marketed as Suboxone in the US (here is the statement and another link to various documents). STORY ENDS HERE Read more
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs