After having already done so before the Tar and the Constitutional Court, the Emilia-Romagna Region has also appeared before the Antitrust in the investigation opened against Roche and Novartis for an alleged agreement restricting competition regarding the drugs Avastin and Lucentis for the treatment of retinal macular degeneration. The investigation, as reported by Ansa, concerns the fact that in Italy the cost of each dose of the drug produced by Roche (Avastin) for off-label use in the treatment of ophthalmic diseases is less than 15 euros, while the price of the drug by Novartis! (Lucentis), is more than 1,700 euros per single application, and is reimbursed by the National Health Service. Only recently, a recent intervention by AIFA has reduced the price of Lucentis to 810 euros. According to the Antitrust, the elements collected at the end of its investigations allow us to hypothesize the existence of a possible agreement between the two companies, which would lead Roche not to register the drug with the ophthalmic indication, leaving the field free on the market to Novartis, which has a shareholding in Roche of 30%. The closure of the preliminary investigation is expected by 20 December 2013.
June 17, 2013 - DoctorNews33
