Seven years after Cofasa filed a monopoly complaint against Fischel, in Costa Rica the Commission for the Promotion of Competition decided to impose a fine of almost $19 million on the pharmacy chain.
Representatives of the Commission for the Promotion of Competition (Coprocom), informed that the fine imposed on Fischel is provisional, since the resolution is in the appeals phase, so it is not final and cannot be released figures or other aspects of the ruling.
New distributors, more chain pharmacies and new alliances are examples of the dynamism in the sector.
One example is the newly founded company KPO Alpha, dedicated to distribution, which has found an interesting market opportunity: independent pharmacies, a business where the partners Leonardo and Maria Acuna, together with their team cater to around 260 shops.
A study by the Universidad de Costa Rica notes that one company controls the distribution of 80% of drugs sold, with price differences of up to 1,000%.
An article in Nacion.com reports that there is "little or no competition in the private sector of medicine, product of an industry that is "highly concentrated", causing Costa Rica to have higher drug prices compared to other Central American countries."
In Costa Rica, Compañía Farmacéutica S. A. (Cofasa) has filed a suit over monopolistic acts by the Corporation which owns the Fischel pharmacies .
Cofasa's lawyer, in a complaint before the National Competition Commission at the Ministry of Economy, said that the CEFA Corporation, which owns the pharmacy chain Fischel, "... concentrates in the same company the manufacturing, importation, purchase from national manufacturers, wholesale distribution and retail sale of medicines", reports Nacion.com.
Through a new division, DIPO Pharmaceutics (Dipo Farmacéutica), the distribution company will serve the pharmaceutics industry.
DIPO has warehouses in Guanacaste, San Carlos, Pérez Zeledón, Pococí and San José. It currently serves 11.000 businesses and plans to serve 1.000 more with the new division.
From Elfinancierocr.com: “Dipo will enter the highly competitive market of medicine distribution.