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The European Commission announced on Tuesday a formal investigation into Zoetis (New York Stock Exchange:ZTS) to investigate whether the U.S. animal health company violated the region's antitrust rules by firing a rival for its Librela canine pain therapy.
According to regulators, while developing Librela, he indicated for osteoarthritic pain in dogs, Zoetis (ZTS) acquired another project in an advanced phase aimed at the same indication.
However, officials charged that the company subsequently ended its development and refused to transfer its rights to a third party with exclusive regional commercial rights to the product.
The investigation launched after a complaint from the French company Virbac in 2020 will be carried out as “matter of priority EU officials said.
If the charges are proven, Zoetis (ZTS), a subsidiary of Pfizer (PFE), will be liable for a fine of 10% of its global turnover with a formal warning from EU regulators.
The company said the investigation, which the commission said was is first The antitrust investigation related to the exclusionary termination of a pipeline product is linked to an acquisition it completed seven years ago.
“We believe that both the acquisition of the compound and our subsequent decision to stop developing it were sensible, rigorous and legal,” Zoetis (ZTS) added.
