Romanian Antitrust Body Rejects Relad”s Discrimination Claim Roche

Romania”s Competition Council has rejected a claim raised by pharmaceutical distributor Relad International against Roche Romania, accusing the latter of discrimination in supplying medicines.

The complaint raised by Relad indicated an alleged abuse of dominant position by Roche Romania, which planned to stop Relad”s parallel medicines export from Romania to other EU countries, law firm Musat&Asociatii said in a press release Wednesday.

The antitrust body”s investigation took two years and its final 180-page decision concludes that Roche Romania has met all its legal obligations to supply all local distributors and the termination of its commercial relations with Relad International was due to the latter”s debts, said Anca Buta Musat, Roche”s legal counsel.

Roche Romania, the local division of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffmann la Roche, ranks second on the Romanian market, with a 7.4% market share at the end of March, according to Cegedim data.