The CEOs of Roche and Novartis
risk trial in Italy for share-rigging over alleged denigratory
campaign starting in 2011 against the eye-disease drug Avastin,
prosecutors said Thursday.
Roche's Maurizio De Cicco and Novartis's George Schrockn
Fuchs received notification that a probe had ended, which is
generally the prelude to an indictment request.
The two managers are accused of conspiring to obstruct, via
the diffusion of false news, the use of the very cheap Avastin
in favour of a much dearer product, Lucentis.
The two pharmaceutical giants were fined 180 million euros by
Italian antitrust authorities for this affair.
Rome prosecutors have based their case on the content of
emails between De Cicco and Schrockn Fuchs.
They are also relying on the results of a technical
consultation which assessed the characteristics of the two
products and their therapeutic efficacy.
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