Competition

Article originally published in Global Competition Policy, February 2009 

The release of DG Competition’s Preliminary Report on its Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry on November 28, 2008 was a Brussels media event, with press briefings, press releases, and an all-day public hearing that was covered by the Commission’s live television channel.1 …

Continue Reading DG Competition’s Preliminary Report on the Pharma Sector Inquiry: A Need for Clear Signals at the IP/Competition Intersection

Article originally published in PLC Cross-border Life Sciences Handbook, 2007/08

Apart from patent disputes linked to generic entry, perhaps no issue has spawned more litigation in the European pharmaceutical sector than parallel trade. At the root of the problem are price differences among member states for pharmaceutical products which are…
Continue Reading Parallel Trade in Pharmaceuticals and EC Competition Law

Article originally published in the Cross-border Life Sciences Handbook 2006/07

Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are turning with increasing frequency to in-licensing and collaboration agreements – pharmaceutical companies to put new products in their pipelines and biotech companies to access the resources needed for final-stage development, clinical trials, manufacturing, and distribution.
Continue Reading Pharma and Biotech In-licensing and Collaboration Agreements: a Deal Lawyer’s Guide to EU Anti-trust pitfalls

Originally published as Covington Life Sciences Alert on June 1st, 2005

May a dominant pharmaceutical company refuse to supply in full the orders it receives from a wholesaler in an EU country in order to limit parallel trade in its products in the European Union? This was the question put…
Continue Reading Parallel Trade in Pharmaceutical Products in Europe: The European Court of Justice’s Ruling in Syfait v. GSK