Alchem International has been accused by the European Commission of being a part of a “cartel” of companies to fix prices for a pharmaceutical ingredient.
According to the Commission, Alchem “may have coordinated and agreed” to fix the minimum sales price and allocate quotas of the ingredient, called N-Butylbromide Scopolamine/Hyoscine, which is used in Buscopan and its generic versions. Buscopan is used to relieve stomach pain and cramps. The EC also accused the company of sharing sensitive information with other competitors.
The New Delhi-based company didn’t reply to a request for comment.
In October 2023, the EC took action against six other companies for price-fixing the ingredient, including Alkaloids of Australia, Alkaloids Corporation, Boehringer Ingelheim, Linnea and Transo-Pharm.
The companies were fined a total of €13.4 million ($14.4 million). A sixth company, C2 Pharma, wasn’t fined because the company let the EC know about the cartel. All of the companies admitted their involvement and agreed to the settlement, according to the EC.
“We are concerned that Alchem may have taken part in an agreement with competitors to coordinate prices and allocate quotas for an active pharmaceutical ingredient used to produce a widely prescribed drug,” Margrethe Vestager, the EC’s executive VP of competition policy, wrote in a statement. “As a result, European consumers may have suffered from restricted access to affordable medicines. Alchem now has the possibility to respond to our concerns.”
Now that the EC has sent its statement of objection to the company, Alchem has a chance to examine the investigation and request a hearing to present its side. If the EC finds that Alchem did price-fix, the company could be charged up to 10% of its yearly global turnover.