Exploring the EU Horizon for Pharma

By Peter Bogaert, Kristof Van Quathem and Lucinda Osborne on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Healthcare system, Privacy & Data Security

The EU pharmaceutical industry landscape is in significant flux. There are many pressures to provide new therapies and to make them available more early and for as many qualifying patients as possible. In that context, the industry model and the role of exclusivity rights as a tool to stimulate innovation are being discussed. At the same time, discovering and developing new products is more complex and requires a collaborative effort. This happens against the background of new rules on medical devices and the protection of personal data, which are, for instance, relevant in assessing clinical effectiveness and relying on real world evidence.

Three members of the Covington European Life Sciences team will be speaking on these topics at the EU Pharmaceutical Law Forum being held in Brussels on 16-18th May. Continue Reading

EU Medical Devices Regulation Series: Potential for Easing Borderline Determinations?

By Charlotte Ryckman and Anna Wawrzyniak, Ph.D, Paralegal on Posted in Medical Devices

This article was originally posted on our sister blog Inside Medical Devices

Earlier this week, in a plenary vote, the EU Parliament endorsed the texts of the Regulation on Medical Devices (the “Regulation”—latest version available here) and the parallel Regulation on In-Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices (the “IVD Regulation”—latest version available here).  This presents a good opportunity to have a closer look at one of the essential questions of the revision of the medical device rules, namely, whether the scope of the Regulation changes in comparison to that of the main Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EEC (the “Directive”).  We examine below the changes to the definition of a medical device and whether the Regulation affects borderline determinations.

As discussed in our earlier post, the borderline between medical devices, medicinal products, cosmetics and foods or food supplements is often blurred.  The Regulation sheds some additional light on the definition of a medical device and strengthens the Commission’s power in relation to the borderline issues.  Nevertheless, important questions continue to exist, for instance in relation to the pharmacological versus physical (or purely chemical) mode of action of a product. Continue Reading

Italian Council of State Improves Access to Investigational Medicines

By Luca Tosoni on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medicinal Products

Recently, the Council of State (i.e., the Italian supreme administrative court and consultative body) adopted an important advisory opinion, which allows for improved access to investigational medicines by patients in Italy.  In particular, the Council of State found that patients may be enrolled in compassionate use programmes or supplied with a medicine listed in the so-called 648 List after the product has obtained a marketing authorization, at least until the company starts to commercialize it in Italy.  The latter normally presupposes that the product is classified as subject to reimbursement.

Access to Medicines Not Authorized in Italy

There are de facto two regimes allowing patients to access investigational medicines (i.e., medicines that are not yet authorized in Italy).[1]  The first, applied in most cases, is the compassionate use regime.  The second, used in more exceptional cases, is the so-called 648 regime.  The two regimes may not be applied simultaneously.  Continue Reading

EU Medical Devices Regulation Series: Interpreting the “Industrial Scale” Concept

By Bart Van Vooren on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medical Devices

This article was originally posted on our sister blog Inside Medical Devices

The term “industrial scale” appears twice in the draft EU Medical Devices Regulation (“MD Regulation”) in relation to so-called “in-house devices.” The term equally appears in the draft in-vitro diagnostic medical devices (“IVD”) Regulation.

To provide perspective on the meaning of “industrial scale” and how the draft MD Regulation’s use of the term may be interpreted, this post looks at two recent judgments pertaining to medicinal products before the EU Court of Justice: Joined Cases C-544/13 and C-545/13 Abcur (link here) and Case C-276/15 Hecht-Pharma (link here). Although there are evidently major differences between the medical device and medicines regulatory regimes, these judgments nevertheless provide useful guidance to interpret the notion “(non-)industrial scale” under the draft MD Regulation. Continue Reading

UK CMA Imposes Record Fine on Pfizer

By Miranda Cole and Anne Robert on Posted in Competition, Medicinal Products, Pharmaceutical companies

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (the “CMA”) imposed a £84.2 million (€99.7 million) fine on Pfizer yesterday. In addition, the CMA also fined distributor Flynn Pharma £5.2 million (€6.1 million).  The CMA found that Pfizer and Flynn Pharma abused their dominant positions by charging excessive and unfair prices for phenytoin sodium capsules, drugs used to treat epilepsy, in the UK.  In addition to the fines, the CMA ordered both entities to reduce their respective prices within timeframes of between 30 working days and 4 months.

In September 2012, Pfizer sold the UK distribution rights for the phenytoin sodium capsules (sold until then under the brand name Epanutin) to Flynn Pharma. Flynn Pharma subsequently de-branded the drug, effectively taking it outside the price regulatory regime.  Pfizer continued to manufacture the drugs.  The CMA found that, after September 2012, Pfizer supplied the capsules to Flynn Pharma at wholesale prices that were between 780% and 1,600% higher than its previous prices to wholesalers and pharmacies.  It also found that Flynn Pharma’s prices to wholesalers and pharmacies were between 2,300% and 2,600% higher than the prices previously paid to Pfizer.  Flynn Pharma’s prices also significantly exceeded the prices charged by Pfizer (after September 2012) for the same products in other European countries. Continue Reading

Another round of upcoming amendments to the medicines laws in Germany – Clinical Trials, Advertising, Biologics and more…

By Dr. Dr. Adem Koyuncu and Dr. Philipp A. Nagel on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medicinal Products

On 11 November 2016, the German Parliament passed another new law amending different parts of the German Medicines Act (Arzneimittelgesetz) and the Act on Advertising for Healthcare Products (Heilmittelwerbegesetz). The law is titled “Viertes Gesetz zur Änderung arzneimittelrechtlicher und anderer Vorschriften“. The draft was deliberated in the health committee of the Federal Council (Bundesrat) on 30 November 2016 and it has become clear that the Federal Council will not object to it in its final deliberations later this month. Therefore, the new law will likely become effective at the beginning of 2017.

The new law especially amends the existing clinical trial rules so that German law will comply with the new Clinical Trials Regulation (EU) No 536/2014. The amendments  particularly affect the approval procedure for new studies and the competencies of the ethics committees and regulatory authorities. While currently, two full stand-alone approvals for a study are required (i.e., from the ethics committee and the competent authority), under the new law, certain parts of the ethics committee’s opinion may be overruled by the authority. In addition, a new federal ethics committee can be established by the regulatory authorities which would additionally lead to significant changes in the procedure. Continue Reading

Upcoming Changes to Italy’s Biosimilar Landscape

By Luca Tosoni on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medicinal Products, Pharmaceutical companies

On 28 November 2016, the Italian Chamber of Deputies approved the Draft Budgetary Law of 2017.  Among other things, the Draft Law introduces new rules on the substitutability of biologics and the procurement of biosimilars.

In particular, Article 59(11) of the Draft Law provides that:

  • two products enjoy a biosimilarity relationship only where this has been established by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA);
  • the automatic substitution of an originator biologic with its biosimilars (and between biosimilars) is not allowed;

Continue Reading

The Court of Justice of the EU Adopts a Broad Interpretation of the Information on Emissions into the Environment that Authorities Must Disclose to the Public

By Cándido García Molyneux and Luca Tosoni on Posted in Environmental & Clean Technology

Last week the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) upheld a broad interpretation of the concept of “information that relates to emissions into the environment” that EU and Member State authorities (e.g., ECHA, EFSA, Commission, national environmental agencies) must disclose to the public.  According to the CJEU, the information that must be disclosed does not only relate to emissions from industrial installations, and must also include data allowing the public to: (i) know what is, or may be foreseen to be, released into the environment under normal or reasonable conditions of use of a product or substance; (ii) check the correctness of the assessment of the actual or foreseeable emissions on the basis of which product or substance is authorized; and (iii) understand the effect of those emissions on the environment.   This information must be disclosed to the public, upon request, even if it may affect the commercial interests of companies.

The CJEU’s decisions will have a significant impact on all companies that are required to submit regulatory filings to access the EU market under different EU legislation (e.g., REACH, Biocides, Plant Protection Products, Fertilizers, GMOs).  These companies must now assume that much of the data they submit may not be kept confidential.

Continue Reading

French Supreme Court upholds Sanofi’s generic denigration fine

By Miranda Cole and Anne Robert on Posted in Competition, Food & Drug Regulatory, Medicinal Products, Pharmaceutical companies

In its 18 October judgment the French Cour de Cassation upheld the €40.6m fine imposed on Sanofi-Aventis (“Sanofi”) by the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) in May 2013 and affirmed the judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal. The FCA found that Sanofi abused its dominant position in violation of Art. 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”) and art. L.420-2 of the French Commercial Code by denigrating generic competitors of its drug Plavix on the French clopidogrel market.

In July 2008, Sanofi put in place a strategy intended to convince healthcare professionals of the differences between Plavix and soon to enter generic clopidogrel products. The strategy included representations that the generic drugs contained clopidogrel salts that differed from the Plavix salt and were not indicated to be used in combination therapy with aspirin for patients suffering from the Acute Coronary Syndrome (“ACS”).  Sanofi also encouraged doctors to indicate on their Plavix prescriptions that the drug was “not-substitutable” (except with Sanofi’s own generic Clopidogrel Winthrop). A large number of doctors did so.  In its communications, Sanofi stressed Plavix’s established efficacy and safety profile regarding the prevention of atherothrombotic events, which the newly entering third party generic drugs did not have.

The Court of Appeal upheld the FCA’s conclusion that Sanofi put in place a structured strategy aimed at denigrating competing generics, and that by going beyond merely stating objective differences between Plavix and the generic products it abused its dominant position. The FCA emphasised that only “significantly different properties” in terms of safety and efficacy could have justified the statements made by Sanofi.  To qualify as a generic the product need not contain the same salt provided that it has the same principle active ingredient and does not have a different safety and efficacy profile.  Nor must it be approved for all of the same indications.  The absence of the ACS indication for the competing generics reflected the fact that this indication continued to be protected by a complementary patent, not the different salts they contained.  Sanofi’s communications on why Plavix and the generic competitors were not substitutable were thus incomplete and misleading.

The Cour de Cassation found that Sanofi had abused its dominant position and foreclosed generic entry to the French clopidogrel market.  It concluded that Sanofi’s communications were cumulatively misleading and had a dissuasive effect.  Further, the court found that, as a result of the “non-substituable” reference that doctors were encouraged to include on Plavix prescriptions, the evolution of generic substitution was unusual (with Sanofi’s own generic systematically maintaining a market share by volume above 30%).

Finally, the Cour de Cassation rejected Sanofi’s claim that the fine imposed was unjustified and disproportionate.  It expressly affirmed the 50% uplift to the base used to calculate the fine, as a reflection of the economic strength of Sanofi-Aventis and the group to which it belonged.

Italy’s AGCM Fines Aspen EUR 5 Million for Excessive Pricing

By Miranda Cole and Anne Robert on Posted in Competition, Food & Drug Regulatory, Medicinal Products, Pharmaceutical companies

The Italian Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (“AGCM”) has fined Aspen over €5 million for having abused its dominant position – in violation of Art. 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union – by increasing prices of its anti-cancer drugs Alkeran (melphalan), Leukeran (chlorambucil), Purinethol (mercaptopurine) and Tioguanine (thioguanine) by up to 1,500%.  Aspen had previously acquired the rights to commercialise these drugs, internally referred to as the “Cosmos” drugs, from GlaxoSmithKline.  Aspen achieved the price increases by adopting an aggressive negotiating strategy with the Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco, including threating to stop the supply of the medicines on the Italian market (at the time, Aspen was the only company supplying these medicines in Italy).  Aspen was able to achieve price increases of between 300% and 1,500% (over the prior price).

In its analysis, the AGCM first defined the national markets using ATC5 classifications. In light of Aspen’s position in markets defined this narrowly, it concluded that Aspen held a dominant position on the various markets.

In concluding that Aspen had abused its dominant positions, the AGCM applied a two-phase test, namely:

  1. as a first step, it assessed whether there was an excessive discrepancy between the manufacturing costs of, and the prices applied by Aspen for, the products, concluding that this was the case;
  2. as a second step, it assessed whether the prices applied by Aspen were excessive and unfair, taking into account a range of other factors, including the change in the prices over time, the lack of economic justification for the increases, the absence of any “extra economic” benefits for patients, the nature of the “Cosmos” drugs, the characteristics of the Aspen group and the damage (as a result of the increased cost) to the National Health Service.

Beyond the Aspen case, a number of other excessive pricing investigations by National Competition Authorities are currently on-going. For example, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has recently pushed back for a second time the expected date of its final decision in its Pfizer/Flynn Pharma (“Flynn”) investigation (to November 2016).  The CMA is investigating whether Pfizer and Flynn abused their dominant positions in various UK markets by charging ‘excessive and unfair’ prices for phenytoin sodium capsules.  Pfizer allegedly charged between 8 and 17 times more for the drugs (at wholesale level) than it had charged for those same drugs at retail level before the deal, while Flynn charged between 25 to 27 times more for the products than Pfizer had charged at retail level.

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