On 22 July 2024, the European Commission (EC) announced that it will be imposing certain commitments on Vifor, a manufacturer of intravenous iron medicines. Vifor is a dominant player in this market and had spread misleading information about the safety of a competing drug, Monofer, to healthcare professionals.
The EC had opened an investigation, suspecting a potential competition law infringement. However, after concluding its investigation, instead of imposing fines, the EC imposed a set of legally binding commitments. Among other things, Vifor will have to launch a “comprehensive” communication campaign that will clarify that Monofer is safe to use, including on Vifor’s own website.
This is the newest decision in the recent trend for disparagement cases, in which spreading misleading information is investigated as a potential abuse of a dominant position. So far, all the recent disparagement cases have been related to the pharmaceuticals sector. While there have been no such cases in the Baltics so far, new investigations have been opened or concluded in Italy, the United Kingdom, France, etc. Therefore, this trend could also reach the Baltics.
How could this affect you?
- To avoid competition law risks, do not spread misleading information about competing drug if either of the following is true:
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- your business holds a dominant position
- your business has made an agreement to spread this information together with another competitor
- If you notice misleading information being spread about your products by a competitor, consider whether this could be a competition law infringement. You could report it to competition authorities, which could impose a fine of up to 10% of the infringing company group’s worldwide turnover.
For more info and guidance on the topic, contact our Life Science sector experts Erika Žigutė in Lithuania, Marika Grunte in Latvia, and Lise-Lotte Lääne in Estonia.
