French Competition Authority agrees to investigate Plavix anti-competitive charges

The French Competition Authority has agreed to a request by the local subsidiary of Israel-based generics giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to investigate alleged anti-competitive practices by the country's leading pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis aimed at preventing generic competition to its blood thinning treatment Plavix (clopidogrel).

In November last year, Teva Sante filed a complaint with the French Competition Authority against alleged practices by Sanofi-Aventis which, according to the generics firm, had the effect of excluding generic drugs competing with Plavix, including Teva's own clopidogrel copy medicine. In its decision published earlier this week, the Authority said that it intends to carry out an in-depth investigation on alleged behavior by Sanofi-Aventis.

According to the Authority, Sanofi-Aventis' communications toward scientists and practitioners emphasize differences between Plavix and competing generics (including Clopidogrel Teva Pharma 75mg) without revealing that these differences have no impact on the therapeutic efficacy of the product, and that the generic formulation has been fully tested and approved for use by medical authorities across Europe.