The European Commission has launched an investigation into whether the pharmaceutical company Sanofi has breached European Union antitrust law by launching a campaign against a rival vaccine.
The probe's aim is to assess whether the French pharmaceutical company presented its own flu vaccine as superior to the competition, using false or misleading claims, and thereby exploiting its market power.
Sanofi denies the allegations.
According to the European Commission, Sanofi markets a boosted flu vaccine under the brand name "Efluelda," which was specifically developed to offer people over the age of 60 better protection against influenza.
The product competes with the boosted flu vaccine marketed by CSL Seqirus under the brand name "Fluad."
The commission has concerns that Sanofi ran a misleading communication campaign, aimed primarily at health care professionals in Germany and France, in which it claimed that the evidence base for Fluad was weaker than that for Efluelda.
This contradicted the findings of both the national vaccination committees in Germany and France and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
A spokesman for Sanofi said that the company was convinced it had always acted in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations and would continue to do so.
The company takes the matter very seriously and is cooperating fully with the European Commission throughout the proceedings, he said.
The commission had raided the group’s premises in Germany and France last September in connection with the allegations.
