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.
Romania, which for years ranked last in the EU for packaging waste recycling, now stands at the forefront of Europe’s circular economy, proving that a country with initially fragile infrastructure can implement, in record time, one of the most effective collection and recycling systems in Europe. This rapid transformation is taking place in a European […]
Tucked inside Radisson Blu Hotel, Bucharest, Ginger Sushi Bar & Lounge marks the turn of the year with an intimate New Year’s Eve dining experience built around a multi-course tasting menu. From 19:00 onwards, guests are welcomed to a carefully paced evening that blends Japanese inspiration with premium ingredients, from scallops and Wagyu to Chilean […]
Romanian non-profit Dăruiește Viață has completed a new renovation project at the “Louis Țurcanu” Emergency Children’s Hospital in Timișoara, upgrading the Pediatric Onco-Hematology Transplant Unit to modern medical standards. The investment, worth approximately EUR 150,000, was funded by Linde Gaz Romania and Atos Global Delivery Center. The organisation has been working with the Timișoara hospital […]
The multimedia exhibition Aici Se Vede Jazz (Here You Can See Jazz), set to open at SAC Berthelot in Bucharest, explores how jazz found its way in the pre-1990 Bucharest and “the contemporary ways to listen, visualize, perform and relate artistically to its world of sounds and ideas.” Bucharest had improvised studios, rehearsals with the […]
Aon Romania, part of the global group Aon plc, draws attention to the urgent need for structured solutions to protect trade receivables in an economic context characterized by high volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. The subject was central to the discussions at TRADE CREDIT TALKS - Receivable Protection in the Age of Volatility, where business leaders […]
Bucharest’s shopping centres posted mixed financial results in 2024, with major discrepancies between the city’s largest malls and mid-sized retail centres, according to financial analysis platform RisCo.ro. The data shows contrasts in profitability and turnover, as well as significant losses among some of the capital’s biggest retail projects. AFI Cotroceni recorded the highest turnover of […]
