The European Union's antitrust body said it accepted Sanofi's concessions to end a competition investigation into the French drugmaker's marketing campaign for a flu vaccine. The European Commission--the bloc's executive arm and competition enforcer--said Wednesday that Sanofi's offer to rectify the potential effects of its past messages on a rival flu shot made by Australia's CSL and refrain from any communication casting doubt about its performance would address its concerns. Those commitments will become legally binding for Sanofi, it added.
The commission launched a probe in June to assess whether Sanofi's efforts to promote its Efluelda flu vaccine in France and Germany breached competition rules, citing concerns they could amount to disparagement campaigns against CSL's Fluad. Sanofi said at the time it was confident it had acted in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulation and that it was cooperating with EU authorities. In August, the European Commission said it would seek feedback on commitments offered by the company to address its concerns.
Source: Wall Street Journal US Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing