Pharmaceutical giant Celltrion fined for unfair business practices

An exterior view of Celltrion’s second factory in Incheon / Courtesy of Celltrion Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has fined leading drugmaker Celltrion 435 million won ($309,873) for engaging in unfair business practices. The biopharmaceutical giant is accused of unfairly benefiting its affiliate, Celltrion Healthcare, by waiving inventory storage fees and granting free use of trademark rights, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC concluded that such tactics undermined fair competition and resulted in undue financial benefits for Celltrion Healthcare, estimated at 1.

2 billion won. The FTC, however, decided not to refer Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin to prosecutors for further investigation. "The total benefit provided was less than 5 billion won, and it is unclear whether the chairman directly ordered or was involved in the actions," Kim Dong-myung, an FTC official, said.



Earlier, the FTC announced that among 88 large business groups, including 10 chaebol or family-run conglomerates, subject to annual oversight, Celltrion reported the highest ratio of inter-affiliate transactions in 2023 at 65 percent. (Yonhap).