法国制药公司赛诺菲在欧盟反垄断监管机构周三表示接受其停止诋毁竞争对手流感疫苗的提议后，避免了可能被处以的高额罚款。
Sanofi avoids fine as EU accepts offer to stop disparaging rival vaccine By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS, Oct 14 - French pharmaceutical company Sanofi has staved off a potential hefty fine after European Union antitrust regulators on Wednesday said they had accepted its offer to stop disparaging a rival flu vaccine.
欧盟委员会6月份展开调查，以确认赛诺菲是否在法国和德国主要诋毁了CSL Seqirus生产的名为“Fluad”的疫苗，该疫苗与赛诺菲的“Efluelda”流感疫苗构成竞争。
The European Commission opened an investigation in June into whether Sanofi disparaged a vaccine called "Fluad" made by CSL Seqirus, primarily in France and Germany, which competes with its "Efluelda" flu vaccine.
赛诺菲在初步回应中称有信心自己遵守了所有适用法律，但随后提出了一系列措施以解决欧盟竞争执法者的关切，以避免可能的指控以及最高可达其全球年营业额10%的罚款。
In its initial response, the French drugmaker said it was confident it complied with all applicable laws, but subsequently proposed a series of measures to address the EU competition enforcer's concerns to avert potential charges and a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover.
欧盟反垄断首席特蕾莎·里贝拉在新闻发布会上宣布批准赛诺菲的提议时表示：“赛诺菲值得肯定，自我们展开调查以来，它一直积极与委员会合作。正是这种合作使我们能够达成快速而有效的结果。”
"To their credit, Sanofi has engaged helpfully with the Commission since the beginning of our investigation. And it is this engagement that has allowed us to reach a very fast and effective outcome," EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera told a press conference, announcing the approval of Sanofi's proposed actions.
委员会表示，赛诺菲将不再在德国和法国使用针对医护人员的宣传材料来批评国家疫苗接种建议，也不得负面突出竞争对手疫苗或强调其自身产品更安全。该承诺有效期直至2030年。CSL Seqirus欢迎欧盟的决定。
The Commission said Sanofi will not use promotional materials aimed at healthcare professionals in Germany and France to criticise national vaccination recommendations nor highlight negatively the rival vaccine or that its own product is safer. This pledge is valid until 2030. CSL Seqirus welcomed the EU decision.
该公司在一份电子邮件声明中称：“委员会的决定凸显了基于证据、准确的疫苗传播的重要性，这种传播应反映独立的科学评估和国家疫苗建议。”
"The Commission's decision reinforces the importance of accurate, evidence-based vaccine communications that reflect independent scientific assessments and national vaccine recommendations," the company said in an emailed statement.
根据与欧盟监管机构达成的协议，赛诺菲还将在未来两年内在其德国和法国网站上发布一份声明，承认并澄清适用的国家疫苗接种建议将Fluad和Efluelda视为在保护老年人防流感方面具有等效作用。
Under the agreement with the EU regulators, Sanofi will also publish in the next two years a statement on its German and French websites acknowledging and clarifying that the applicable national vaccination recommendations treat Fluad and Efluelda as equivalent in protecting elderly people against the flu.