The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to determine whether Zoetis, one of the largest purveyors of medicines for dogs and cats, breached European Union competition rules by preventing the launch of a competing novel medicine that is used to treat chronic pain in canines.
The company sells the first and only monoclonal antibody, called Librela, that is available to treat pain stemming from osteoarthritis suffered by dogs. As the EC noted, the treatment, which is administered monthly, offers a novel option for relieving pain, especially in older dogs. Librela was approved by European regulators in 2020 and in the U.S., where Zoetis is headquartered, in 2023.
But at the same time that Zoetis was developing its drug, it acquired another late-stage treatment for the same use, and this was supposed to be sold in the European Economic Area by another company. The EC is concerned that Zoetis may have broken antitrust laws by ending development of that drug and refusing to transfer it to the other company, which had exclusive commercial rights in the EEA.