On Monday 15 May, the European Commission opened formal investigations into a possible abuse of dominant position by the South African company Aspen Pharma.
The institution's investigation will focus on the prices practised by the pharmaceutical company for five niche drugs treating cancer, particularly blood tumours. This is the first time that the Commission has investigated the pricing practices of the pharmaceutical industry.
Following the expiry of their patents, Aspen bought the five drugs in question. According to certain information, it is then believed to have imposed excessive and unjustified price increases, in some cases by several hundred percent, and to have threatened certain national authorities with withdrawing the medicines from the market if the prices it planned to apply were not accepted.
The European Commission therefore believes that the South African company's pricing policy could breach article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFE) and article 54 of the agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) and constitute an abuse of dominant position. The investigation will cover all EEA states with the exception of Italy, which noted a violation of article 102 TFEU on 29 September of last year. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)