Watchdog to fine Celltrion $469,000 over unfair subcontracting practices
South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday it will impose a 630 million-won ($469,000) fine on Celltrion Inc., a biotechnology firm, for unfairly canceling orders and failing to provide a subcontractor with required documents on time. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it will also issue a corrective order against the company over violations related to COVID-19 test kits with a local…
The South Korean antitrust watchdog, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), has announced it will impose a fine of $469,000 on biotechnology firm Celltrion Inc. for unfair subcontracting practices. The fine, which includes 590 million won for unfair order cancellations and 40 million won for failing to meet documentation requirements, was issued after the FTC investigated Celltrion's handling of COVID-19 test kits provided to a local subcontractor.
The company placed seven orders for the test kits between September 2021 and January 2022, but failed to provide the required legal documents when changing the types of products in two orders and delayed issuing them in another. The FTC stated that Celltrion violated the Fair Transactions in Subcontracting Act by changing some point-of-care (POC) test kits for medical professionals to over-the-counter (OTC) kits for general consumers, before switching some of those kits back to POC products.
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