UK Monopoly Watchdog Closes Investigation on Merck & Co Subsidiary
14 Março 2019 - 11:09AM
Dow Jones News
By Oliver Griffin
The U.K.'s monopoly watchdog has closed its investigation into a
suspected anticompetitive discount scheme developed by a U.K.
subsidiary of Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK), citing no grounds for
action.
The Competition and Markets Authority said Thursday that Merck
Sharp & Dohme Ltd.'s discount scheme was designed to delay or
reduce competition from other suppliers of infliximab after the
patent for its Remicade-branded treatment expired in 2015.
Infliximab is used to treat chronic illnesses such as Crohn's
disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The discount scheme was an
attempt to ensure the U.K.'s National Health Service would continue
to use Remicade rather than competitors' newer and cheaper versions
of infliximab, known as biosimilars.
In May 2017 the watchdog provisionally found Merck Sharp &
Dohme held a dominant market position and that its discount scheme
for Remicade was in breach of competition law. However, a case
decision group has now decided there are no grounds for it to take
action.
The CMA found that Merck Sharp & Dohme's scheme was unlikely
to limit competition from others because when it was introduced,
the market worked differently from the way the company had
envisaged when it designed the scheme.
Write to Oliver Griffin at oliver.griffin@dowjones.com;
@OliGGriffin
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 14, 2019 09:54 ET (13:54 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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