Bundeskartellamt gives green light for Emergency Platform for Vaccination Equipment - Also no objection to participation of pharmaceutical wholesalers

The Bundeskartellamt has given the green light for the participation of full-line pharmaceutical wholesalers in the “VCI Emergency Platform for Vaccination Equipment”. The platform was launched with the Bundeskartellamt’s approval to better coordinate the supply of vaccination equipment (syringes, cannulas, and NaCI solution). According to federal government plans, the pharmaceutical wholesale industry is to take control, together with the pharmacies, of the supply of the COVID-19 vaccine to physicians from the second quarter of 2021. This will also involve the provision of complete sets of vaccine and the necessary vaccination equipment.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “As the availability of vaccines will hopefully increase soon, their distribution will have to be optimised. This calls for close cooperation between different companies and public bodies. We already sent out a swift and unbureaucratic signal in February for the cooperation within the context of the “Emergency Platform for Vaccination Equipment”. In our view it is therefore appropriate to open up the platform to the pharmaceutical wholesale industry. This sector can play an important role in distributing the vaccine and putting together vaccine sets. All in all it is assumed that the supply situation will improve with the help of the platform and the involvement of all the relevant market players. The platform’s duration is to be limited to the pandemic emergency situation.”

The VCI Emergency Platform for Vaccination Equipment was launched in February this year by the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) to prevent any shortages in the supply of vaccination equipment to the vaccination centres. Via the B2B platform the federal Länder and manufacturers of vaccination equipment provide information on their current supply situation and their capability to deliver. This transparency is to help better coordinate the supply chain in order to prevent the shortage or misallocation of vaccination equipment. The platform will not provide any details on the prices and quantities of the suppliers and its duration is to be limited to the current emergency situation. The Bundeskartellamt had already informed the parties involved in February 2021 that it would not initiate a proceeding against the VCI Emergency Platform for Vaccination Equipment based on the information available at the time. This applies in the same way to the platform’s extension to the pharmaceutical wholesale sector.