The EU has carried out unannounced inspections at certain Sanofi premises related to concerns that the French pharma may have abused its market position in the vaccines sector, Fierce Pharma has learned.
The European Commission—the EU's executive arm—announced in a statement Monday that it conducted inspections at the premises of a company “active in the vaccines sector” in relation to “concerns that the inspected company may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit abuses of a dominant market position.”
At the time, the commission wouldn't reveal the identity of the company nor the location of the premises, only explaining that it was “investigating possible exclusionary practices that may amount to anticompetitive disparagement.”
However, a Sanofi spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Wednesday morning that it is the company at the center of the investigation. The inspections took place at Sanofi sites in France and Germany on Monday, according to the Big Pharma, which added that the visits were related to “an investigation into conduct in the seasonal flu vaccine space.”
“Sanofi is confident that it is compliant with the relevant rules and regulations,” the spokesperson added. “Sanofi will not comment further given the ongoing investigation and will cooperate fully with the European Commission.”
The Paris-based pharma is a major flu vaccine player, selling several products in Europe including Vaxigrip, Supemtek Tetra and Efluelda. Details of the alleged market abuse have not been revealed by the commission or Sanofi.
This is typically a busy time for all vaccine drugmakers, with most beginning to ship out their products in the summer along with a marketing push as we look ahead to flu season, which can begin in early autumn and continue on until spring.
Sanofi’s chief competitors in this space include CSL Seqirus and GSK.
Last year, Vifor was also under the shadow of a European Commission probe for alleged antitrust abuse surrounding its “potential disparagement” of Pharmacosmos’ high-dose intravenous iron replacement therapy Monofer. The drug is a competitor to Vifor’s flagship iron medicine, Ferinject, in Europe.
In the end, Vifor cleared up the probe last year with a “comprehensive and multi-channel communication campaign” to address the alleged anticompetitive actions.