Bristol Myers to pay $2.7 million to settle allegations against Israel competitor

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Bristol Myers Squibb has agreed to pay 10 million shekels ($2.7 million) in Israel to settle a potential case over the blocking of a generic version of the cancer drug Imnovid, the Israel Antitrust Authority said on Monday. Competition from Israel.

The antitrust agency said Bristol and Neopharm Scientific, the Israeli distributor of Imnovid – used to treat AIDS-related multiple myeloma and Kaposi’s sarcoma – refused a request from KS Kim International for drug samples to make a copycat version of Imnovid .

After five months, the drugmakers provided the samples, but the competition authority said it had postponed the competition for such an important drug.

Bristol, which must make the payment within 60 days, and Neopharm were not immediately available for comment.

“We want to send a message to companies that have a dominant market position that they cannot act in a way that could reduce competition,” Jonathan Cwikel, deputy legal counsel for civil and administrative affairs, told Reuters.

The authority had intended to fine Neopharm 64 million shekels and 600,000 shekels to an unnamed company executive, but even before it could issue a similar letter to Bristol, the firm offered the authority to settle, it said he.

By signing the consent decree – which was seen by Reuters – and paying 10 million shekels, Bristol, Cwikel said, denied any responsibility and admitted no liability. “On our part, we haven’t completed our investigation, so we don’t have any official decision against them,” he said.

So far, Neopharm has decided not to settle, Cwikel said, and will present oral arguments at a hearing on Monday.

($1 = 3.7501 shekels)

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by David Evans)