Abstract

On february 24, 2014 Italian Antitrust Authority fined industrial groups Roche and Novartis for horizontal restrictives practices aimed to prevent that "off-label" use in ophtalmic pathologies, of pharmaceutical product Avastin - licenced from Genentech to Roche, - could reduce the "on-label" one of the more expensive product Lucentis, licensed by Genentech to Novartis. The A. points that the Authority injunction, upholded by administrative judges on dicembre 2, 2014, confirmed european notion of relevant market (affirmed also in the recent case "Astrazeneca") based on effective use of pharmaceutical products regardless of the registrazion of those in the Aic. Moreover, the A. analyzes the restrictive practice, wich consists in the manipolization of pharmaceutical demand troughout the studied distortion of product characteristics, stressing their risks although indipendent studies brought different conclusions. This manipolatory conduct, adds the A., was possibile also for pharmaceutical market is characterised by a high regulation in medical prescription togheter with asymmetric information between productors and consumers.