Korea’s Antitrust Regulator Fines AstraZeneca and Alvogen

Korea’s antitrust regulator has fined AstraZeneca and Korean generics company Alvogen a combined $1.82 million for colluding to avoid competition.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission said Alvogen agreed to temporarily halt the release of its generic version of AstraZeneca’s Zoladex in return for exclusive rights to market three other products made by AstraZeneca.

Zoladex, a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist used for prostate and breast cancer, was developed by AstraZeneca and got FDA approval in 1989.

The commission said AstraZeneca contacted Alvogen when the pharma giant found out the Korean company was working on a generic version of Zoladex.