The Serbian Commission for Protection of Commission ("Commission") has announced that it will conduct a sector inquiry of the state and conditions of competition in the pharmaceutical industry. This move by the Commission was expected, given the announcements made by the Government of the Republic of Serbia last year.
Sector inquiries are conducted if certain circumstances indicate potential antitrust violations, or the possibility of restricting, distorting, or preventing competition, in order for the Commission to further examine the state of competition in a particular industry.
The subject of the abovementioned inquiry is the market for medicines used in human medicine, with a special focus on medicines that are issued at the expense of the mandatory health insurance fund. The subject of the analysis includes price formation, market shares, competition conditions, market entry barriers, vertical relationships, and other relevant factors on this market.
Currently, questionnaires are being sent to pharmacy establishments with a larger number of retail outlets in order to collect data necessary for the analysis.
It is important to note that, as a result of the sector inquiry, the Commission may initiate an antitrust violation investigation if the analysis reveals indications of a potential antitrust violation. For example, this may occur if the Commission identifies the existence of restrictive agreements, after which it will initiate antitrust investigation ex officio.
By Nikola Poznanovic, Partner, and Katarina Rosic, Senior Associate, JPM & Partners
