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(Sharecast News) - The European Commission on Friday opened a formal antitrust investigation into whether French drugmaker Sanofi breached EU competition rules through the marketing of its influenza vaccine.
The Commission said it will examine whether Sanofi abused its dominant market position by carrying out a campaign that may have unfairly undermined a rival vaccine.
According to the Commission, it is concerned Sanofi may have "pursued a misleading communication campaign" against CSL Seqirus's Fluad vaccine while promoting its own Efluelda product.
It added that the campaign may have "disparaged Fluad by portraying it as inferior to Efluelda", potentially breaching EU competition rules and going against national vaccination recommendations across many European states.
The investigation will focus primarily on France and Germany, where the Commission said Sanofi holds a dominant position in the relevant markets.
The Commission stressed that opening formal proceedings does not mean that the authority has concluded that there is an infringement of antitrust rules, but that it will now carry out an in-depth investigation as a matter of priority.
The Commission noted there is no legal deadline for completing its inquiry and emphasised that launching the probe does not prejudge its eventual outcome.
Sanofi shares were broadly steady following the announcement, up just 0.3% at 73.97 by 1249 BST.
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