Brussels investigates the Zoetis laboratory for obstacles to the competition of its pain reliever for dogs

This Tuesday, the European Commission launched a formal investigation into possible anti-competitive practices by the animal health laboratory Zoetis, which Brussels suspects of acting to prevent the launch on the community market of a new rival biological medicine to treat pain. chronic in dogs. The American laboratory has a global presence and markets the first and only monoclonal antibody drug approved in the European Union to treat pain associated with osteoarthritis in dogs. The medicine, called ‘Librela’, is administered monthly and offers a novel option to relieve pain, especially relevant for older dogs, as described by the Community Executive in the statement released to announce the research. But in parallel to this development, the laboratory also acquired another product in an advanced stage of development with an indication also for the relief of pain in dogs and which was planned to be marketed in the European economic area by a third-party company. Community services fear that Zoetis acted in an exclusive manner by putting an end to the development of this alternative product and refusing to allow it to be transferred to that third party that had the exclusive rights to market it in the European common market.