BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Drugmaker Alchem International and its Hong Kong subsidiary were fined a total of 489,000 euros ($576,000) for taking part in a pharmaceutical cartel, EU antitrust regulators said on Friday.
The European Commission had imposed a total fine of 13.4 million euros on Alkaloids of Australia, Alkaloids Corp, Boehringer, Linnea and Transo-Pharm in 2023 for fixing the minimum price of an ingredient to produce the abdominal antispasmodic drug Buscopan and its generic versions.
The companies admitted taking part in the cartel in exchange for reduced fines but Alchem did not settle.
“Our investigation showed that Alchem, the only producer who chose not to settle, illegally coordinated prices and allocated quotas for more than 12 years,” EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement.
($1 = 0.8490 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)
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