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ARTICLE · 19 OCTOBER 2010

Responding To Generic Competition - OFT Announces Settlement In Reckitt Benckiser Case

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang
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The OFT has today announced that Reckitt Benckiser (RB) has agreed to pay £10.2 million after admitting that it had infringed both UK and EU competition law by withdrawing and de-listing Gaviscon Original Liquid from the NHS prescription channel in 2005.

United KingdomAntitrust/Competition Law
Susan Hankey
Susan Hankey
Caroline Hobson
Caroline Hobson
John Markham
John Markham
David Marks
David Marks

The OFT has today announced that Reckitt Benckiser (RB) has agreed to pay £10.2 million after admitting that it had infringed both UK and EU competition law by withdrawing and de-listing Gaviscon Original Liquid from the NHS prescription channel in 2005. The OFT had previously alleged that these actions represented an abuse of RB's purported dominance on the alginate and antacid heartburn medicine market, to the detriment of competition from generic equivalents.

The agreed fine, which is reduced from £12 million, follows a complaint from Pinewood Laboratories Ltd., which makes Acidex, a generic version of Gaviscon. The OFT then issued its Statement of Objections in February 2010. This case is significant for the fact that the OFT/sector regulators have not issued a final decision under Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 (which covers abuse of dominance) since early 2008. 

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