Ranbaxy `wins` case against UK fraud office

  • 22/07/2008

  • Business Standard (New Delhi)

BS Reporter / New Delhi July 23, 2008, 0:52 IST Ranbaxy Laboratories today said it has won a two-year-old case against UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in the English Crown Court, a morale boosting relief to the domestic drug major. SFO had taken Ranbaxy's UK subsidiary, Ranbaxy (UK), to court on charges of price-fixing in some of its penicillin-based antibiotics between 1996 and 2000. The court also declined an application by the SFO for permission to appeal to the English Court of Appeal, although SFO retains a right to appeal to the Court of Appeal directly, a Ranbaxy statement said today. SFO's action against Ranbaxy was based on complaints of alleged anti-competitive conduct in connection with the supply of penicillin-based antibiotics to the hospitals run by the UK government's National Health Service. Four other companies were also chargesheeted. The verdict came as a temporary reprieve for Ranbaxy, which is facing allegations of selling sub-standard drugs from the US government. Welcoming the decision, Ranbaxy, India's top drug maker by sales, said, "We are a responsible company committed to providing high- quality generic medicines at affordable prices to patients throughout the world. Ranbaxy's shares rose 1.03 per cent on BSE to end the day at Rs 462.90 today.