Who was sanctioned, and for what?

Pyrolysis oil leaked twice at the Lavéra petrochemical site in Martigues: around 50 tonnes in July 2018 through a failed seal into the Anse d'Auguette, part of which reached the sea, and around one tonne in April 2022 through a corroded seawater pipe, of which some 500 kg reached the Anse d'Auguette. Naphtachimie therefore concluded an environmental CJIP (convention judiciaire d'intérêt public, French deferred prosecution agreement) with the Marseille public prosecutor; it pays a public interest fine of 1,200,000 EUR, compensates two environmental associations and will trial, at its own expense, a biological clean-up of the Anse d'Auguette; validated on 13 May 2026.

Authority / court

Parquet de Marseille (Procureur de la République); Validierung durch den Präsidenten des Tribunal judiciaire de Marseille

Area of law

Environment and sustainability · Emissions and permits

Legal basis

Art. 41-1-3 Code de procédure pénale (pollution des eaux)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Published

26 May 2026

Checked against the official source on 2 Oct 2026 · Direct link

In consignment agreements, the pharmaceutical wholesaler had made payment to suppliers of food supplements dependent on subsequent resale (payment period over 30 days) and had reserved the right to hold suppliers liable for spoiled goods. The Konkurentsiamet (Estonian Competition Authority) found infringements of the act on unfair trading practices in the food supply chain and ordered amended contractual terms.

Authority / court

Konkurentsiamet (Estnische Wettbewerbsbehörde)

Area of law

Competition law · Abuse of market power

Legal basis

§ 4 Abs. 1 und 2, § 5 Abs. 2, § 7 Abs. 1 PTEKS (UTP-Richtlinie (EU) 2019/633)

Action

Order

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

According to the European Commission's findings, Alchem took part from 1 November 2005 to 12 February 2018 in an EEA-wide cartel concerning the active ingredient N-butylbromide scopolamine (SNBB), involving minimum prices, quotas and exchanges of sensitive information. Unlike the other participants, who were subject to a settlement decision in October 2023, Alchem declined to settle and received a fine of 489,000 EUR without any reduction.

Authority / court

Europäische Kommission

Area of law

Competition law · Cartels and collusion

Legal basis

Art. 101 AEUV; Art. 53 EWR-Abkommen

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Published

4 Jul 2025

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Direct link

The Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV, Spanish securities market supervisor) imposed two fines totalling 1,000,000 EUR on Grifols: 800,000 EUR because the consolidated financial statements for 2021 to 2023 and the 2023 half-year report contained inaccurate or incomplete information under IFRS, and 200,000 EUR for misleading information on the calculation of alternative performance measures (APMs) in the management reports. The company waived administrative appeals.

Authority / court

Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV)

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Disclosure and reporting obligations

Legal basis

Art. 282.1.b) und Art. 292.1.f) Ley 6/2023 de los Mercados de Valores y de los Servicios de Inversión

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Employees

10,000 or more

Liability of senior managers

Measures against individuals are not reported here.

Published

6 Aug 2025

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Direct link

According to the AGCM, from at least January 2018 to December 2023 Novamont tied film producers to its bioplastic Mater-Bi through exclusive or semi-exclusive purchasing obligations and tied retail chains to carrier bags made by its licensees, thereby excluding competitors in bio-compounds for lightweight and very lightweight plastic carrier bags (Art. 102 TFEU). Novamont must pay 30,359,000 EUR (capped at the 10% turnover limit); for the period after its acquisition by the Eni group on 18 October 2023, Novamont and Eni are jointly and severally liable for a further 1,701,052.08 EUR, a total of 32,060,052.08 EUR.

Authority / court

Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM)

Area of law

Competition law · Abuse of market power

Legal basis

Art. 102 AEUV; Art. 15 Legge n. 287/1990

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Mitigating circumstances

None recognised: the compliance programme of the Eni group, which Novamont joined in October 2023, had not worked effectively because training and controls covered other topics and exclusive contracts continued to be concluded; the AGCM considered Novamont's earlier programme manifestly inadequate, partly because its competition law manual did not specifically address exclusive purchasing obligations among the forms of abuse.

Published

24 Jun 2025

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Direct link

Over more than 15 years, the three OTC medicine manufacturers jointly developed the category management project ‘SMAN’, through which they steered the placement of non-prescription medicines in selected pharmacies in their favour and disadvantaged or excluded competing products. In a settlement procedure, the Autorité belge de la Concurrence / Belgische Mededingingsautoriteit (Belgian Competition Authority, BMA) imposed a total of 11,249,280.48 EUR.

Authority / court

Autorité belge de la Concurrence / Belgische Mededingingsautoriteit (BMA)

Area of law

Competition law · Cartels and collusion

Legal basis

Code de droit économique Art. IV.1; AEUV Art. 101

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Employees

10,000 or more

Published

24 Apr 2025

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

The biotech company did not disclose as soon as possible the FDA's request for an additional study on PXT-3003 and the subsequent rejection of an SPA application, and disseminated misleading communications to shareholders. Sanction imposed on Pharnext: 500,000 EUR.

Authority / court

Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), Commission des sanctions

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Disclosure and reporting obligations

Legal basis

Art. 17 MAR; Art. 12 Abs. 1 lit. c und Art. 15 MAR

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

under appeal

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Liability of senior managers

Measures against individuals are not reported here.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 3 · Direct link

Teva abused its dominant position for the MS medicine Copaxone: it artificially extended patent protection by filing staggered divisional applications with the EPO and strategically withdrawing them, and spread misleading statements about an authorised competing product among physicians and decision-makers. Seven Member States were affected over periods of four to nine years.

Authority / court

Europäische Kommission

Area of law

Competition law · Abuse of market power

Legal basis

Art. 102 AEUV

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Employees

10,000 or more

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 2 · Direct link

During a European Commission inspection in the fragrance sector in March 2023, a senior employee of the manufacturer, after being informed of the inspection, deleted WhatsApp messages exchanged with a competitor on a mobile phone; the Commission treated this as obstruction of the inspection. It is the Commission's first fine for deleting messages in a messaging app; because of the manufacturer's cooperation, the amount was reduced by 50% to €15.9m (0.15% of total turnover).

Authority / court

Europäische Kommission

Area of law

Competition law

Legal basis

Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1/2003 (Behinderung einer Nachprüfung)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Culpability

intentional

Mitigating circumstances

Immediate acknowledgement, proactive cooperation and help in recovering the data: 50% reduction.

Liability of senior managers

The deletion was carried out by a senior employee; the fine is addressed to the companies.

Published

24 Jun 2024

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Company name anonymised since 24 Jun 2026 · Direct link

The competition authority fined the supplier of food supplements and health products 1,040,000 EUR because between 2016 and 2022 it prescribed retail prices and discount limits to distributors, monitored them and responded to deviations with cuts in terms or supply restrictions. The decision is not final.

Authority / court

Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC)

Area of law

Competition law · Cartels and collusion

Legal basis

Art. 9 Lei n.º 19/2012 (Lei da Concorrência); Art. 101 AEUV

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

under appeal

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Published

29 Dec 2023

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Company name anonymised since 20 Dec 2025 · Direct link

From 2005 to 2019, six manufacturers and traders of the active ingredient SNBB (the base substance for a branded medicine and generics) fixed minimum prices, allocated quotas and exchanged sensitive information. This was the first cartel concerning an active pharmaceutical ingredient that the Commission has sanctioned; the leniency applicant received full immunity, and all parties reached a settlement.

Authority / court

Europäische Kommission

Area of law

Competition law · Cartels and collusion

Legal basis

Art. 101 AEUV, Art. 53 EWR-Abkommen

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Mitigating circumstances

Leniency programme (leniency applicant 100 %, a second company 50 %, a third 30 %), 10 % settlement reduction

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 4 · Company name anonymised since 19 Oct 2025 · Direct link

The Országos Gyógyszerészeti és Élelmezés-egészségügyi Intézet (OGYÉI, Hungarian National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition) fined a Hungarian pharmaceutical company 37,000,000 HUF and prohibited continuation of the infringements, because the company had in numerous cases granted prescribing doctors unlawful financial benefits through fee contracts – for example for role-plays used to train its own sales representatives, specialist articles for a company-branded promotional publication, promotional lectures, and paid lectures given by heads of department to their own staff. In addition, hospitality exceeded the statutory per-head limit in four cases at its own professional events, support enabling doctors to attend two international professional events was not reported, and there were shortcomings concerning warning symbols in promotional material, the handing out of samples and donation records. The decision was issued in new proceedings after the Fővárosi Törvényszék (Budapest-Capital Regional Court) had annulled an earlier 2020 decision for inadequate reasoning on the amount of the sanction, while upholding the legal assessment of the fee contracts.

Authority / court

Országos Gyógyszerészeti és Élelmezés-egészségügyi Intézet (OGYÉI; Rechtsnachfolger NNGYK)

Area of law

Bribery and corruption · Gifts, hospitality and benefits

Legal basis

Gyftv. (Gesetz Nr. XCVIII/2006) § 14 Abs. 1, 2 und 10, § 11/B Abs. 2, § 19 Abs. 2 lit. c und d; EüM-Verordnung 3/2009 § 7 Abs. 1 lit. a, § 10 Abs. 3

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Published

28 Jul 2023

Original amount 37,000,000 HUF, converted at the ECB reference rate of 28 Jul 2023.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Company name anonymised since 28 Jul 2025 · Direct link

On 1 August 2022 the listed fertiliser producer announced on its website that it had stopped production for a scheduled annual overhaul, but concealed the actual reason, natural gas prices it could not bear; the KFN (Komisia za finansov nadzor, Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission) regarded this as giving misleading signals about the share price. Sanctioning act Р-14-9 of 24 March 2023 set BGN 35,000 for this; two further acts of the same day set BGN 3,500 for the delayed disclosure of the inside information and BGN 1,400 for failing to publish transactions notified under Art. 19 MAR.

Authority / court

Комисия за финансов надзор (КФН, Bulgarische Finanzaufsichtskommission)

Area of law

Capital markets and financial supervision · Market abuse and insider dealing

Legal basis

Art. 15 i. V. m. Art. 12 Abs. 1 lit. c Verordnung (EU) Nr. 596/2014 (MAR)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Culpability

intentional

Original amount 35,000 BGN, converted at the ECB reference rate of 24 Mar 2023.

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Company name anonymised since 24 Mar 2025 · Direct link

From 2012 to 2018, six purchasers of styrene coordinated their negotiating strategy for the industry reference price (SMCP) and exchanged price information in order to push down the purchase price. The Commission imposed fines totalling 157 million EUR, including 32.505 million EUR on one company and 31.72 million EUR on another; the leniency applicant escaped a fine.

Authority / court

Europäische Kommission

Area of law

Competition law · Cartels and collusion

Legal basis

Art. 101 AEUV, Art. 53 EWR-Abkommen

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Mitigating circumstances

Leniency programme for almost all parties, 10 % settlement reduction

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 4 · Company name anonymised since 29 Nov 2024 · Direct link

The competition authority fined the food supplement supplier 1,258,900 EUR because, from October 2015 to January 2022, it dictated retail prices and maximum discounts to distributors, monitored compliance and punished deviations with worse terms or supply cuts. The fine was reduced by 30% in the settlement procedure.

Authority / court

Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC)

Area of law

Competition law · Cartels and collusion

Legal basis

Art. 9 Lei n.º 19/2012 (Lei da Concorrência); Art. 101 AEUV

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Mitigating circumstances

Settlement procedure (transação), practice ended; 30% reduction.

Published

19 Dec 2022

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Company name anonymised since 15 Nov 2024 · Direct link

The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC, Spanish competition and markets authority) imposed a fine of 10,250,000 EUR, for which three companies of the pharmaceutical group are jointly and severally liable, because as the sole supplier of CDCA medicines for the rare metabolic disease cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis they abused their dominant position and charged the Spanish national health system an excessive price. In addition, the group must waive the exclusivity agreed with the only supplier of the active ingredient and market the product directly in Spain.

Authority / court

Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC)

Area of law

Competition law · Abuse of market power

Legal basis

Art. 2 Ley 15/2007 de Defensa de la Competencia; Art. 102 AEUV

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

Published

14 Nov 2022

Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Company name anonymised since 10 Nov 2024 · Direct link