Brasília, 7/20/2004 (Agência Brasil) - The Secretariat of Consumer Rights (SDE) at the Ministry of Health reports that it will begin an investigation of ten multinational laboratories that engaged in competitive bidding frauds. According to the SDE, the labs fixed prices and agreed on market shares before bidding on contracts for blood products that were supplied to the ministry.

The laboratories to be investigated are: Immuno AG, Octapharma AG, Centeon LLC, American Red Cross (ARC), Biotes Pharma, Baxter Export Corporation, Alpha, BPL, LFB and Aventis.

If the investigation finds criminal activities, labs can be fined up to 30% of their annual revenue in Brazil and the people involved sentenced to jail for two years and fined.

Repórter:Andréia Araújo
Translator: Allen Bennett