MOSCOW, November 14 - RAPSI, Alyona Yegorova. A commercial court upheld the decision to enter F. HOFFMANN-La Roche Ltd and Roche-Moscow, its main distributor in Russia, into the monopoly registry, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) on Monday.

The Moscow District Federal Commercial Court held against the companies' lawsuit to invalidate the Federal Antimonopoly Service's (FAS) order to include the companies in the monopoly registry thus satisfying the service's appeal and overruling the lower courts' judgments.

Both companies challenged a September 15, 2010 watchdog's decision to include them in the monopoly registry - a listing of businesses with at least a 35-percent share (a "dominant" position) of the market for a certain product. The antimonopoly service maintains that the company's Tamiflu medicine claims more than a 35-percent market share for such antiviral medication.

The Roche (Switzerland) pharmaceutical company was established in 1896, and currently operates in 150 countries. It has more than 80 000 employees, according to the company's website. Roche produces biotechnological medical products to treat cancer, viral infections, metabolic, central nervous system disorders and inflammatory diseases.