Brussels Probes Roche Austrian "Subsidy"

The European Commission has launched an inquiry into a 378 million Austrian schillings ($37 million) subsidy plan for Hoffmann-La Roche, to support the development of a new obesity treatment and to build a manufacturing plant.

The Commission said it had to assess whether the subsidies offered by the Austrian government to assist the development of Xenical (orlistat; a liposome inhibitor) infringed European Union rules on state aid, and whether they did, or did not, represent investment aid.

However, the Commission has made clear that at this stage it does not have enough information to decide whether approval of the aid proposal is possible. It consists of a 300 million schillings R&D subsidy and a grant of 78 million schillings for environmental protection.