Anvisa Signs Cooperative Agreement with Brazil's Anti-Trust Agency

Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) in order to investigate potentially anti-competitive conduct by the pharmaceutical industry in the future.

The goal of the agreement is to strengthen the relationship with the Council through exchanges of information and the holding of joint meetings, workshops, technical visits, exchanges, studies, research, and training events.

Similar arrangements exist in the US, where the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) works closely with anti-trust regulators at the US Federal Trade Commission and US Department of Justice, among other regulatory bodies. As in the US, Brazil's agreement would see Cade's investigative and anti-trust prowess married with Anvisa's enhanced analysis and knowledge of industry.

Cade, formerly known as the Brazilian System of Competition Defense (SBDC), recently underwent a re-organization in which it assumed the responsibilities of the Secretariat of Economic Law, formerly with the Ministry of Justice.

Anvisa and the Council were already cooperating on these matters before the reorganization, Anivsa said.

The agreement has a term of two years and may be renewed for successive periods.