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To: Anthony Wong who wrote (610)	8/4/1998 5:29:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1722

Merck Makes N.Z. Dumping Complaint Against Parke-Davis, Roche Bloomberg News August 4, 1998, 12:26 a.m. PT Merck Makes N.Z. Dumping Complaint Against Parke-Davis, Roche Auckland, Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co's Australian unit said it filed an antidumping complaint against U.S.-based Warner- Lambert Co. and Switzerland's Roche Holding Ag over the sale in New Zealand of drugs to control high blood pressure. The U.S. drugmaker's Australian unit Merck Sharp & Dohme lodged an application with the Australian Customs Service ''for the actions of Parke-Davis and Roche to be investigated.'' Parke- Davis is Warner-Lambert's drugs business. ''Parke-Davis and Roche have breached international trade law by dumping their ACE Inhibitors in the New Zealand market,'' the unit said in a statement. ACE Inhibitors are a class of drugs used to control high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. Merck said the two rival drug companies imported drugs from European markets at ''dumping margins ranging from more than 100 percent through to just under 400 percent, depending on tablet strength.'' It estimates the action of the two companies will result in a 75 percent fall in sales of its own ACE Inhibitor, Renitec. A spokesman for Roche New Zealand wasn't immediately available to comment. Mark Crotty, business manager for Warner-Lambert's New Zealand division, said the complaint ''has been a surprise.'' ''We obviously don't consider there is a basis for it. To wait until this time to go down this route sounds pretty desperate,'' he said. He said the complaint has arisen because the New Zealand government's drug purchasing agency, Pharmac (Pharmaceutical Management Agency Ltd.), on behalf of publicly funded hospitals, will now only subsidize the cost of the drugs at the price charged by Parke-Davis and Roche, which is less than Merck's prices. --Jonathan Underhill in Wellington (644) 498-2201 through the