How did the war between Diasorin and Technogenetics over serological tests end?
The Council of State overturns the TAR ruling: the agreement between Diasorin and Policlinico San Matteo is legitimate. All the details and the reaction of the competitor Technogenetics
The agreement between the Policlinico San Matteo di Pavia and Diasorin is legitimate. This was established by the Council of State, overturning the sentence of the Lombardy TAR which in June 2020 had canceled the collaboration agreement on serological tests for the diagnosis of Sars-Cov-2 infection signed last March.
It all started with a complaint from a competitor of Diasorin, Technogenetics Srl (controlled by the Chinese group of the same name), which did not like the lack of a public tender.
Let's go step by step.
WHAT THE STATE COUNCIL DECIDED ABOUT DIASORIN
The Council of State, the third section of the highest administrative justice body, has established that the agreement between Diasorin, a joint-stock company that operates in the immunodiagnostics and molecular diagnostics segments based in Saluggia (VC) , and the Policlinico San Matteo di Pavia, on the validation of the Covid 19 serological tests, is legitimate.
NOT EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT THAT OF DIASORIN
The decision of the Council of State is based on the "non-exclusive or exclusive nature of the contested agreement and the openness to the evaluation of other similar (even contextual) proposed agreements". The agreement, in fact, does not exclude the launch of “other possible scientific projects of other private subjects, responding to the institutional purpose of the IRCSS to support research projects, including private ones, and to validate them”.
NO PROBLEMS FOR DIASORIN COMPETITION
Since the exclusivity character is no longer there, there is no competition problem “because, unlike the contract and the concession, structurally there is no limitation in the choice of the administration to a single partner” since the research is “open”.
And, specifies Palazzo Spada, it is not a question of the “concession of public good”.
RETURN JUDGMENT DECISION TAR
The sentence of the third section of the highest administrative justice body overturns the sentence of the First Section of the Lombardy TAR , chaired by Domenico Giordano, which had accepted the appeal presented by Technogenetics Srl and canceled the collaboration agreement between the San Matteo Hospital Foundation and Diasorin on serological tests.
For the TAR, in fact, contrary to what was highlighted by the Council of State, the Policlinico San Matteo di Pavia had made available "public service" goods to "satisfy a particular interest, of which Diasorin spa is the bearer, consisting in the development and creation of products and kits of which Diasorin itself will acquire the exclusive property, retaining the right to patent the inventions created and to proceed with the relative marketing ".
DIASORIN'S COMMENT
“We have always stressed the correctness and transparency of our work. This is a decision of great importance for the entire Italian research sector, thanks to which clarity was made on the collaboration between public institutes and private companies in the execution of clinical trials to improve people's health ", commented the CEO. by Diasorin, Carlo Rosa.
THE REACTION OF TECHNOGENETICS
The Chinese Technogenetics, which had denounced the agreement between Diasorin and the San Matteo Foundation, "reserves the right to evaluate the adoption of any legal actions in the European offices prepared".
Technogenetics "acknowledges that public-private collaborations also aimed at acquiring the results of public research are freely negotiable by the administration, which may at its discretion prefer one operator over another and that these methods, according to the Council of State, do not alter the free competition". The Chinese company claims that the appeal was based "in the interest and respect of the community, so that the sharing of public resources returns to everyone's heritage and may eventually be industrialized according to the rules currently in force".
THE APPLICATION OF TECHNOGENETIS
So let's take a step back. Technogenetics Srl, which is part of the Chinese Khb group, appealed the agreement between Diasorin and the Policlinico San Matteo which took place in the absence of a public tender.
The Chinese company was ready to commercialize one of its tests since early March and had asked to participate in the scientific analysis of the San Matteo di Pavia but never received an answer. The company based in Lodi also accused the Lombardy Region of having withdrawn only 24 after the publication of an expression of interest (preliminary to the tender for the choice of a dealer) opened on 6 April, without evaluating what were the possible offers of other companies .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/come-e-finita-la-guerra-fra-diasorin-e-technogenetics-sui-test-sierologici/ on Fri, 18 Dec 2020 10:30:12 +0000.