Mauritius Pharma Price-Fixing Investigation

 The antitrust office of Mauritius is looking into possible cooperation and price-fixing in the country's pharmaceutical industry. According to a Monday email from the Port Louis-based commission, importers and wholesalers that supply pharmaceutical products to retail pharmacies may have "illegally agreed to fix the wholesale markup" on goods. The items' maximum markup is regulated by law, and their prices are regulated.

The antitrust office stated that although the inquiry focusses on seven importers and wholesalers, other businesses may be included as it goes on.

The amount of medical and pharmaceutical items imported in 2023 totalled 8.5 billion rupees ($182.6 million), an increase of around 10% over the previous year. Approximately 3% of all imports for the year were represented by the sum, according per Statistics Mauritius.

The island nation's 1.26 million citizens are entitled to free medical treatment. The budget of the Health and Wellness Ministry is 17.2 billion rupees for the fiscal year that ends in June 2025.