EU Courts

Originally published as Covington E-Alert on October 9, 2009

May a pharmaceutical company charge its wholesalers one price for products to be resold under the national healthcare reimbursement rules, and another, higher price for products to be resold in another EU member state? This was the question addressed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ)

Article originally published in Competition Law Insight on November 25, 2008

May a dominant pharmaceutical company refuse to supply in full the orders it receives from a wholesaler in an EU member state in order to limit parallel trade in its products in the European Union? This was the question addressed by the European Court

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 caused by national price controls.