confidential information

Raj Gathani, a Trainee Solicitor in Covington’s London office, contributed to this post.

On 1 September 2015 the General Court issued an interim order in favour of Pari Pharma GmbH (“Pari”) to suspend the European Medicines Agency’s (“EMA”) decision to grant a third-party, Novartis Europharm Ltd (“Novartis”), access to certain documents prepared during the Marketing Authorisation (“MA”) application process (the “MA Documents”).  The MA Documents at issue included EMA Assessment Reports on similarity and superiority between Pari’s product (Vantobra) and Novartis’ product (TOBI Podhaler), which has an EU MA as an orphan medicine.  Novartis made the request to the EMA for access to the MA Documents under the Transparency Regulation 1049/2001.  The main case is currently pending before the General Court (Case T-235/15).

The thrust of Pari’s argument before the General Court was that the MA Documents contain Pari’s regulatory strategy for obtaining MA approval, disclosure of which might cause Pari serious and irreparable financial damage.  The President of the General Court acknowledged that the case raised complex issues in the area of confidentiality and stated that the main proceedings (rather than an interim hearing) is the appropriate forum to address such issues..  As such the President considered that the MA Documents fell under a presumption of confidentiality  and ordered the EMA not to disclose the MA Documents.
Continue Reading General Court Makes Interim Order to Protect Confidentiality in Pari Pharma Transparency Case

The Confidential Disclosure Agreement (“CDA”) is widely used in the Life Sciences Sector, and provides protection for a key asset – a party’s confidential information and trade secrets.  This post does not propose to go through the various possible provisions of a CDA or their negotiation, but instead sets out five practical considerations to take into account when preparing and implementing a CDA.

1. Absolute protection?

Each CDA will provide for certain legal remedies in the event that the other party breaches the agreement, however once an important piece of confidential information is made publicly available it can be difficult or impossible for a party to obtain adequate compensation.  It is stating the obvious to note that the best way to keep confidential information confidential is not to disclose it, however this is sometimes forgotten where a CDA is in place.  On a case by case basis, it is important to consider, prior to disclosure, whether a particular piece of information really needs to be disclosed for a given commercial deal.
Continue Reading The CDA – Five Practical Considerations

Hannah Edmonds, a trainee associate in Covington’s London office, contributed to this post.

Currently, legal  regimes governing protection of trade secrets and confidential information across the EU are fairly disparate. A study published by the European Commission in July (http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/iprenforcement/docs/20130711/final-study_en.pdf)  has identified a ‘widespread appetite for a harmonized approach’ across the region. Harmonisation of the rules could be of significant financial and practical benefit to life sciences companies.

Ensuring that sensitive information (such as customer supply lists, R & D data and process know how and technology) is legally protected from misuse by employees, consultants, competitors and other third parties is a key concern in the life sciences sector. ‘Trade secrets’ often form the bedrock of a company’s assets. 75% of the 537 EU firms who responded to the Commission’s preparatory survey (some of which were SMEs in the life science sector) indicated that trade secrets were of significant strategic importance to their company’s growth, competitiveness and innovative performance.
Continue Reading A Move to Harmonise Trade Secret Laws Across Europe?

Taking a licence from a university or other academic institution raises specific considerations in addition to those that would normally apply in a purely commercial setting.  We set out below ten key considerations for any commercial entity taking a licence from a university in the EU.

1. Continuing academic research in the field and publication rights

Commonly a university will wish to continue to carry-out research in the field within the scope of the licence for academic purposes leading to a risk of intellectual property/confidential information leakage.  Where the university is a charity, it will often have an obligation to publish results in the public interest.


Continue Reading Ten Considerations When Taking a Licence From a University