On 14 February 2013, the Italian Antitrust Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) announced it had opened an investigation into a suspected restrictive agreement between Roche and Novartis in the market for ophthalmic drugs.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by AGCM's own decision document, multiple Italian news outlets (ANSA/La Provincia, euroconsumatori.eu), an international trade newsletter (TTLF), and pharma trade press (FiercePharma). Minor nuance: internal board resolution dated 6 February 2013, with public announcement/inspections on 14 February 2013, consistent with the claim's wording of 'announced'.
Sources
- Procedura di infrazione da parte dell'Autorità Antitrust (epicentro.iss.it)
- https://www.euroconsumatori.eu/articolo/483-antitrust-avvia-istruttoria-contro-novartis-roche-possibile-intesa-restrittiva-della (euroconsumatori.eu)
- https://www.laprovinciacr.it/news/dall-iitalia-e-dal-mondo/13237/Antitrust-avvia-istruttoria-contro-Roche-e.html (laprovinciacr.it)
- https://ttlfnews.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/roche-and-novartis-investigated-for-an-alleged-cartel-in-italy/ (ttlfnews.wordpress.com)
- https://www.agcm.it/dotcmsDOC/allegati-news/I760_provvedimento_5_mar_2014.pdf (agcm.it)
- https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/antitrust-italian-competition-authority-opens-proceedings-against-roche-group-and-novartis (fiercepharma.com)