Chile: Pharma lab collusion case draws to a close

Chile’s Supply Center for the National System of Health Services (Cenabast), which negotiates the purchase of medicines for offices and public hospitals in the country, may have been over-charged by up to 35% as a result of price-fixing. This was one of the core points presented in the request by the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office (FNE) against the Fresenius Kabi Chile laboratories, its subsidiary Sanderson, and Biosano, for agreeing to an alleged pact to affect the results of public tenders between 1999 and the first half of 2013.

The head of the FNE’s litigation division, Víctor Santelices, emphasized that it was a unique agreement that affected 93 medicines tendered in 1,262 separate cases. The lawyer said that a report by the entity had shown that, over the period in which the alleged agreement was in place, there was a price premium in the purchase of medicines that ranged between 18% and 35%.

The lawyer of Cenabast, Leonardo Corral, concurred regarding the existence of collusion between the laboratories and indicated that the extra benefit perceived by the accused represented an important cost for the State, as a result of the increase in public expenditure.

Sanderson’s attorney and Carey study partner, Claudio Lizana, criticized the probative value of Biosano’s leniency-seeking whistle-blowing and rejected the injunction. “We believe that this honorable court does have the faculties apply the law and to determine if the contribution of Biosano was adjusted correctly, otherwise the resolution of the national economic prosecutor would be impregnable,” he said.

Full Content: Economía y Negocios

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