Italy slaps Swiss pharma giants Novartis and Roche with huge fines...

Italy's antitrust body said on Wednesday it has slapped Swiss giants Novartis and Roche with a €182.5-million fine for allegedly manipulating sales of a cheap drug used to treat sight problems.

"The two groups made an illicit deal to prevent the use of a very cheap drug, Avastin, in treating the most widespread sight problem among the elderly and other serious eye diseases," the antitrust said in a statement.

The pharmaceutical giants did so "to benefit a much more expensive product, Lucentis, artificially differentiating between the two products," it said, including by steering health services and doctors away from Avastin by describing it as more dangerous.

Both Roche and Novartis market Lucentis as the best medicine for the eye disease known as macular degeneration.

 However, while Roche's Avastin is a cancer drug, a 2010 study found it was just as effective as Lucentis in treating the eye disease. Full story...

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