Phoenix Pharma has met the conditions it agreed to in order to win approval for its deal with the Medeya pharmacy chain, Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) said. In a ruling on 1 October, the commission accepted the rules Phoenix Pharma proposed and later amended, under which the company will supply prescription drugs from the Positive Drug List for which the group is the sole distributor.
Phoenix Bulgaria said late last year it wanted to lease 47 Medeya pharmacies and buy some of the chain's tangible and intangible assets. In November, the CPC opened an in-depth investigation into the deal.
The investigation found that the Phoenix group holds a dominant position in the wholesale trade of drugs for which it is the exclusive distributor. The group also owns the pharmacy software used by a large share of pharmacies across Bulgaria. Because of this, the commission approved the deal only on condition that Phoenix commit to rules against anti-competitive behaviour.
An international auditing firm checked the "Apteka Expert" software to see whether the rights holder could use it to access sensitive data on competitors. It found no evidence of this. The CPC says it will keep watching how the software is used and can impose extra conditions if it finds signs of anti-competitive use. Pharmacies using the software can cancel their contracts on their own, at short notice, with no penalties or damages.
Several practices are now banned in the sale of these drugs: excessively high prices, dumping, discrimination between traders, tying the purchase to other products, and loyalty discounts. Orders from wholesalers and retailers will be logged as soon as they come in, and whether they are filled will be tracked. Separate sections set out how the drugs will be shared out if supplies run short.
If Phoenix Pharma raises a price by more than 10% above inflation, it must tell the CPC and explain the economic reason for the increase. The company must publish the rules on its website in a way that is easy for anyone to find.
The health ministry and the Bulgarian Drug Agency gave their views on how supplies should be handled, and the CPC checked the plan with them. The commission says the rules must give wholesalers and retailers equal, clear conditions so patients can get the drugs they need.
During talks with health authorities, the commission concluded that when drugs run short, the law needs a review and the state needs to take extra steps. The CPC will open competition-advocacy proceedings to propose changes to the law and common binding rules for large wholesalers.
The rules and findings will feed into the commission's broader analysis of the pharmaceutical sector.