The Romanian Competition Authority fines EUR 22.6 M distributors and manufacturer for sharing insulin portfolio (Eli Lilly / A&A Medical / Mediplus Exim / Relad Pharma)

The Romanian Competition Council (the “Council”) continued in 2008 the series of decisions dedicated to the malfunctioning of the Romanian pharmaceutical market, by sanctioning through its decision 15/2008 (i) the insulin producer Eli Lilly Export SA and three of its distributors, A&A Medical SRL (“A&A”), Relad Pharma SRL (“Relad”) and Mediplus Exim SRL (“Mediplus”) for the breach of article 5 (1) c) of the Competition Law n° 21/1996 (the “Competition Law”) and (ii) the Ministry of Public Health for the breach of article 9 of the Competition Law. The very ample and detailed decision (100 pages) carefully reasons various matters such as: relevant market, distinction between unilateral conducts and agreements based on the Adalat case law. The Council's investigation of the insulin