Bristol Myers Squibb has agreed to pay 10 million shekels ($2.7 million) to Israel to settle a potential case related to the blocking of a generic version of the cancer drug Imnovid, the Israel Competition Authority said Monday.
The antitrust agency said Bristol and Neopharm Scientific, the Israeli distributor of Imnovid – used to treat multiple myeloma and AIDS-linked Kaposi’s sarcoma – rejected KS Kim International’s request for drug samples to make a imitative version of Imnovid.
After five months, drugmakers provided samples, but the competition authority said this had delayed competition for such an important drug.
Bristol, which must make the payment within 60 days, and Neopharm were not immediately available for comment.
“We want to send a message to companies that have a dominant position in the market: they cannot act in a way that reduces competition,” Jonathan Cwikel, deputy general counsel for civil and administrative affairs, told Reuters.
The authority intended to fine Neopharm 64 million shekels and an unnamed company executive 600,000 shekels, but before it could even send a similar letter to Bristol, the company offered the authority a settlement, he said.
By signing the consent decree – which was seen by Reuters – and paying 10 million shekels, Bristol, Cwikel said, rejected any liability and admitted no liability. “For our part, we have not concluded our investigation, so we have no formal decision against them,” she said.
So far, Neopharm has decided not to settle, Cwikel said, and will present oral arguments at a hearing on Monday.
(1 dollar = 3.7501 shekels)
