IMS, a data marketing company, is to be subject to European Commission legal
proceedings which could force it to abandon some sales practices, which its
competitors have alleged are an abuse of its dominant position.
After preliminary investigations, the commission concluded that IMS’s practices
made it difficult for new competitors to enter or stay in the market in question.
The commission has focused on certain loyalty discounts offered by IMS to some
companies which use its services to track sales and prescriptions.
In a statement the commission said: “IMS grants certain pharmaceutical
laboratories so-called loyalty discounts and global or international discounts
that are not based on objective and transparent criteria, as well as free products
that go beyond simple trialing of a new service. . . . IMS made the sale of
certain services subject to the prior purchase of other services.”