Correction
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the investigation was opened in September 2025. The correct date has since been verified with the authority, and the story has been amended to reflect this.
Ankara, October 17, 2025 – The Turkish authority has imposed fines totaling TRY 244.8 million (approximately $5.8 million) on 17 pharmaceutical companies for coordinating employment practices through no-poach agreements and exchange of wage information, concluding one of the country’s most significant labor market investigations.
Among those sanctioned are Adeka, Amgen, Argis, Arven, AstraZeneca, Berko, Farmatek, Helba, İlko, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi, Sanovel, Santa Farma, and Servier.
The authority found that Adeka, Argis, Arven, Berko, Farmatek, Helba, İlko, Sanovel, Santa Farma, and Servier took part in no-poach agreements restricting employee mobility, while Amgen, AstraZeneca, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, and Sanofi were involved in sharing competitively sensitive information on staff remuneration.
The authority opened the investigation on 9 November 2023, examining allegations that several pharmaceutical firms colluded to avoid hiring each other’s employees and exchanged sensitive information on future wage and benefit policies, in breach of Article 4 of Law No. 4054.
The Board emphasized that no-poach agreements and wage coordination harm both labor mobility and competition, reducing incentives for companies to offer better pay and career opportunities. It reiterated that such conduct is treated as a hard-core restriction under Turkish law, similar to cartels in product markets.
