Romania's Competition Council fines maternities on stem cell deals

Romania’s Competition Council fined five local maternities and two stem cell banks for anti-competition deals on the medical services market. The fines total RON 1.2 million (EUR 258,000). The five maternities, operated by private healthcare services providers Medicover, MedLife, Arcadia, Genesys Medical Clinic and Rur Medical closed exclusive deals with two stem cell banks, namely Stem Sure Solutions and CBC Laboratories. Based on these deals, the maternities offered free stem cell harvesting services to the mothers who chose the partner stem cell banks. The mothers who wanted to have the stem cells harvested by other stem cell banks had to pay high fees for this service. According to the Competition Council, these deals limited the competition on the stem cell services market and deprived mothers of cheaper alternatives. Although there are 12 stem cell companies in Romania, four of them control 90% of the market. Thus, exclusive partnerships between maternities and stem cell banks limit competition, according to the competition authority. editor@romania-insider.com