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.
In the wholesale pharmaceutical distribution business, it is estimated that Cefa, Distribuidora Farmanova and Compañía Farmacéutica together represent about 65% of the market share.
Data from the report "Company's Corporate System", complied by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, provides details on company information based on sector, main activity, imports, exports, contracts granted by the government and other data.
Reports show that between January and August this year the number of private drugstores in Costa Rica grew from 1,102 to 1,166, and the main participants say the market is still not saturated.
The owner of Farmacias Fischel has announced the acquisition of 100% of the pharmacy chain La Bomba, in a transaction whose amount was not disclosed.
Grupo Cuestamoras, owner of the Fischel drugstore chain bought the pharmacy chain La Bomba, in a transaction that is still subject to approval by the Commission for the Promotion of Competition.
Between 2009 and 2013 generic drugs lost ground to original brands, reversing a trend seen in the last five years.
The generics market in the country has a value of $159 million and represents 36% of the drug market.
Although their prices are lower than original brand name drugs, in recent years purchases by the public sector have been declining, while in the private sector they are growing but timidly.
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."
Corporation Cefa-Fischel is gaining more and more of the market share in Costa Rica, with tactics that are being denounced as anti-competitive business practices.
An article by César Quirós Brenes in Elfinancierocr.com reports on up to what point Cefa-Fischel Corporation has reached in the drug retail sector in Costa Rica: "Of the 950 active pharmacies as of 15 June, 67 (7% of total) are Fischel stores. Just this year new 10 stores have been reported by the chain.
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.
The pharmaceutical group Socofar acquired 50% of the Costa Rican operation Cefa Corporation.
The alliance between the two companies will allow the financing Cefa’s expansion to Central America and the Caribbean. Among the plans is the recovery of the Honduran and Salvadoran market and consolidation of operations in Nicaragua
"Arnaldo Garnier, chairman of the board of Cefa, affirmed that the agreement will also allow the Costa rican company, which is 56 years old and with annual sales exceeding $250 million, to manufacture a private Socofar brand for a line of personal care products and strengthen its drug segment (institutional market), in which Chile is a leader in its country, where it has operated for 40 years and has annual sales of around $1,000 million", notes Elfinancierocr.com
In little over a year, the supermarket chain has opened 23 drugstores in its stores.
The multinational company plans to add more, not only in the country but in the rest of Central America.
An article in Elfinancierocr.com analyzed how this is affecting the domestic market.
“In 2008, Wal-Mart began installing its own drugstores. The first and largest loser in this decision was Fischel, which used to have its stores inside the supermarkets”.
An ex President, high ranking public officers and distinguished businessmen are sentenced for corruption and peculation in Costa Rica.
When justifying the sentence, the judges told of how a group of powerful politicians from a prominent party conformed a criminal gang which developed an entire operation using assets of the State, among them Legislative Assembly and Social Security, to make money with illegal commissions paid by foreign and domestic dishonest businessmen.
The accord allows them to have 140 outlets in total, exchange financial and marketing information and share inventories.
The Fischel brand and its network of pharmacies are owned by CEFA Corporation.
Arnaldo José Garnier, president of CEFA Corporation and Fischel and pharmacies informed Nacion.com: "The main objective of this union is to generate more sales, reduce costs, improve profitability and accelerate the opening of new outlets."
Operating Company dedicated to the manufacture of gluten-free and sugar-free products, OHNE brand. The OHNE brand has 8 product lines: square bread, sweet...
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