Novartis, Roche avoid $475M antitrust fine in French appeals court

In 2020, when Novartis and Roche were fined 444 million euros ($475 million) by France’s Autorite de la Concurrence, it was the largest ever penalty levied by the country’s anti-competition watchdog.

But three years later, the Swiss pharma giants are off the hook. A Paris appeals court has overturned (PDF) the verdict, ruling that Novartis and Roche did not abuse their market dominance to protect use of their shared macular degeneration treatment, Lucentis, when a much cheaper off-label alternative was available.