Device Supplier Settles Monopoly Allegations With FTC (RAPS)
UK-based Invibio, the first company to sell implant-grade polyetheretherketone (known as PEEK) to the world’s largest medical device makers for spinal and other medical implants, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it violated federal antitrust law by using long-term exclusive contracts to monopolize the PEEK market.
According to the FTC, two other companies, Solvay Specialty Polymers (the US Food and Drug Administration [FDA] cleared the first spinal implant device using Solvay PEEK in 2010) and Evonik Corp. (FDA approved the first spinal implant device using Evonik PEEK in 2013) tried to enter the implant-grade PEEK market, but Invibio’s anticompetitive tactics impeded them from effectively competing and Invibio retained about 90% of PEEK sales worldwide.
“This case affirms that the first company to enter a market cannot rely on anticompetitive contract terms to lock up customers and box out rivals,” said Debbie Feinstein, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “This settlement is designed to provide buyers a meaningful choice among suppliers, to open the door to price competition, and...
