EU opens antitrust probe into Sanofi over flu-vaccine marketing
The European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation into Sanofi over a marketing campaign that allegedly disparaged a competing flu vaccine. Regulators are examining whether Sanofi misled healthcare professionals in Germany and France — markets where it holds a dominant share — by suggesting the evidence behind CSL Seqirus’s Fluad was weaker than that for Sanofi’s own Efluelda, a shot for people over 60, in ways that contradicted national vaccine recommendations.
The case turns on whether a dominant firm used misleading promotion to blunt a rival rather than competing on the products themselves, a form of conduct EU competition law can treat as an abuse of market power. A formal finding could expose Sanofi to fines, though the Commission has not detailed potential penalties.