Roche, Novartis win appeal against record French fine

Swiss pharmaceutical giants Novartis and Roche on Thursday won an appeal against a record fine in France over alleged market abuse -- a case that shook the sector in 2020.

The French competition authority had imposed a fine of 444 million euros ($475 million) in 2020.

It accused the companies of abusing their dominant position to sell the Lucentis drug, which is used to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), to the detriment of a cheaper treatment, Avastin.

US firm Genentech, which was bought by Roche in 2009, was also fined in the case.

Genentech developed Lucentis, which is sold by Novartis outside the United States.

The competition authority said the three companies had colluded to discredit Avastin.

Novartis, which was accused of leading a public relations campaign against Avastin between 2008 and 2013, was hit by the biggest fine -- 385 million euros.

Roche and Genentech were jointly fined 59 million euros.

Authorities had accused Roche, which sold Avastin in France, of refusing to provide samples of the drug to regulators for months, delaying a review to examine its use compared to that of Lucentis.

But the Paris court of appeals said on Thursday that Novartis had been "measured in tone" and not denigrating towards Avastin, and that neither Novartis nor Roche "had been alarmist or misleading".