The Competition Council has fined pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim RCV Gmbh & Co KG (Austria) with 128.470 million RON (25.81 million euros) for abuse of a dominant position on the Romanian market of medicines intended for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a press release.The competition authority found that, over 2017-2021, Boehringer Ingelheim RCV Gmbh & Co KG limited market access to the generic medicine Spiriva (cheaper) and directed patients to Spiolto Respimat, an innovative, more complex and more expensive medicine.According to the Therapeutic Guide in force at that time and the national protocol, not all patients affected by COPD have a more complex medicine as their first treatment option (dual therapy), some of them having the medicine Spiriva and implicitly its generic versions (monotherapy) as their initial indication.Boehringer Ingelheim RCV Gmbh & Co KG has carried out an intensive communication and promotion strategy to influence doctors' decisions so that they will prescribe the drug Spiolto Respimat more widely.In this way, the company intended to make it more difficult to sell competing generic drugs similar to Spiriva and to direct the revenues generated by this product to the new drug Spiolto Respimat.Both drugs are reimbursed 50% by the Health Insurance House, the difference being paid by patients.The clues that were the basis for triggering the investigation also included information received on the Competition Whistleblower Platform, a tool through which violations of the Competition Law can be brought to the attention of the authority, anonymously. The platform can be accessed at https://report.whistleb.com/ro/consiliulconcurentei.
Investment: 125 million euros to establish STIHL’s European Competence Center for the production of battery packs and battery-powered tools Scale: 47,000 square meters facility on a 147,000 square meters site — capacity of up to 1.8 million battery packs and 1.7 million tools by 2028 Employment: Approximately 700 jobs to be created by 2028 Network: Romania […]
A report published on Wednesday, October 15, by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (or CPT) urges Romanian authorities to address serious shortcomings in the treatment and conditions of detention of patients in forensic psychiatric hospitals. The deficiencies in the Romanian system were identified by the Committee representatives during a visit […]
The state-owned Electrica (BVB: EL), one of the main players in Romania’s energy sector, completed the Satu Mare 2 photovoltaic park, a strategic project that marks an important step in diversifying the production portfolio. Located near the commune of Botiz, Satu Mare County, the park has an installed capacity of 27.056 MW and represents an […]
More than 100 items, ranging from frescoes and paintings to sculptures, photographs, and other rare artifacts from Italian museums, will go on display in Timișoara for an exhibition looking at the city of Pompeii. Titled The Fragility of the Eternal. From Pompeii to the Grand Tour to Today, the exhibition will be open from November […]
Robotics startup Dexory, founded in London by Romanians Andrei Dănescu, Adrian Negoiţă, and Oana Jinga, has secured new Series C funding of USD 165 million, according to an announcement made on LinkedIn and quoted by Ziarul Financiar. The company has developed an autonomous robot, the tallest in the world, reaching 16 meters, and a platform designed […]
NEPI Rockcastle, Central and Eastern Europe’s largest owner and operator of shopping centers, has inaugurated its first photovoltaic park in Chișineu-Criș, Arad county, in western Romania. The investment is part of its green energy programme, which includes a EUR 110 million plan for photovoltaic projects across Central and Eastern Europe. According to the company, these […]
