GlaxoSmithKline censured for abuse of market dominance in Greece

GlaxoSmithKline has been told to supply, without any quantitativerestrictions, all wholesalers and pharmacist cooperatives in Greece with the three brands that, from November 2000, it has only supplied to pharmacies directly, Elias Soufleros, vice president of the Greek Competition Committee announced. In an interim order, the company was found in breach of Article 82 EC (abuse of a dominant position).

The European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies (which represents parallel traders) has also filed an Article 82 EC complaint against GSK Greece with the European Commission, and a Commission spokesman has confirmed that his unit would deal with the case, the EAEPC notes. Both were speaking at a European Competition Day on pharmaceuticals earlier this month, in Antwerp, Belgium, organized by the Ministry for Economic Affairs in connection with the Belgian presidency of the European Union.

In arriving at its interim Decision number 193/111/2001 on August 3, the Greek antitrust authorities decided that each of the three products, Imigran (sumatriptan), Serevent (salmeterol) and Lamictal (lamotrigine), when prescribed, constituted the relevant product market for the purposes of Article 82 EC and therefore GSK possessed, by definition, a dominant position for each in the national market. The Greek subsidiary and its parent company were considered as a single economic entity. GSK's conduct in not supplying the market was seen as abusive in that it limited intra-Community trade.