Turkey launches investigation into 19 pharma companies (updated)

Panasonic Holdings

30/11/2023 16:04

(Adds comments from some of the companies)
       ANKARA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Turkey's competition
authority said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into
19 pharmaceutical companies to determine whether they had
violated competition law.
    In a statement, the authority said it had decided on Nov. 9
to launch the probe into companies including AstraZeneca
 AZN.L , Bayer  BAYGn.DE , Glaxosmithkline  GLAX.NS , Johnson &
Johnson  JNJ.N , Bausch & Lomb  BLCO.TO , Sanofi  SASY.PA  and
Pfizer  PFE.N . It provided no further details.
    Asked about the matter, AstraZeneca said it does not comment
on ongoing investigations as a matter of policy.
    Glaxosmithkline, Sanofi and Germany's Merck KGaA  MRCG.DE 
all said they were fully cooperating with competition
authorities in Turkey, but did not elaborate further.
    In a statement, BASF  BASFn.DE  said it was assessing the
matter and was committed to high standards of legal compliance
and business ethics.
    AbbVie, Abdi Ibrahim, Bausch & Lomb, Bayer, Ilko, Johnson &
Johnson, Liba, Menarini, Michael Page International, Panasonic,
Pfizer, SIFI, and World Medicine could not immediately be
reached for comment.
    

 (Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun, Huseyin Hayatsever, Ludwig Burger,
and Patricia Weiss; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Sharon
Singleton, Kirsten Donovan)
 ((Huseyin.Hayatsever@reuters.com;))