The antimonopoly authority ordered the company to transfer to the budget illegally received income in the amount of more than 513 million rubles ($5 million).
The Russian pharmaceutical company Axelpharm has introduced into circulation a generic of the anticancer drug Axitinib, the original version of which is protected by a patent until June 2025. The patent holder (Aguron Pharmaceuticals Elsey) and the importer (Pfizer Innovations LLC) filed a complaint with the FAS of Russia alleging unfair practices on the part of a competitor who did not wait for the patent to expire.
The Service notes that the entry of a generic into the market before the expiration of the patent for the original drug is unfair competition not only with respect to suppliers of the original drug, but also with respect to other pharmaceutical companies that have registered their generics and are waiting for the patent to expire in order to legally put them into circulation.
“FAS of Russia pays close attention to the issues of intellectual property rights observance. The Service reminds that unfair competition is punishable by liability,”
according to the press release of the agency.
Source: FAS
