European Court of Justice upholds 40 million Euro fine on Lupin

28 Jun 2024 , 03:07 PM

The European Court of Justice confirmed the European Commission’s decision to impose a 40 million euro fine on Lupin Limited. This decision was made in connection with a patent settlement deal Lupin reached with French manufacturer Servier in January 2007 for the medicine Perindopril. The commission ruled the agreement anti-competitive.

Lupin is now forced to pay a fine of 40 million euros plus interest to the European Commission.

Lupin stated in a June 28th exchange filing, that the Court of Justice of the European Union rejected the final appeal filed by the Company against the order of the European Commission charging a fine of Euro 40 million, in July 2014.

The pharmaceutical company has previously accounted for these expenses in its last financial report, so there will be no immediate impact on its profit and loss statement for the current fiscal year.

Despite the penalties, Lupin Ltd’s shares rose 2.14% to an intraday high of ₹1,617.30 on NSE, reflecting the exchange’s upward momentum in early trade on Friday, June 28.

In 2014, the European Commission slapped 331 million euros in fines on many corporations, including Servier, Teva, Unichem, Niche (a Unichem subsidiary), Matrix (now Mylan Laboratories), Krka, and Lupin. According to reports, the sanctions were imposed as a result of their participation in “pay-for-delay” arrangements from 2005 to 2007.

In 2018, a lower tribunal decreased Servier’s penalties to 228 million euros, citing flaws in the European Union regulators’ initial investigation. Servier challenged the European Union’s judgement, prompting both Servier and the EU competition monitor to take the dispute to Europe’s highest court. The Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg affirmed the European Commission’s judgement.

At around 1.34 PM, Lupin was trading 2.42% higher at ₹1,621.75 per piece, against the previous close of ₹1,583.40 on NSE.

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