Competition Law and the European Commission
This article was originally published in SRA
Executive Summary
In November 2008, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) published its long-awaited preliminary report on competition in the pharmaceutical sector1,2. The report is indeed an interim report, and DG COMP does not purport to reach any conclusions regarding the legality of behaviour of innovator companies in terms of European Union competition law. However, the press release issued by DG COMP3 to publicise the report suggested that innovator companies delay market entry of generics beyond the natural “loss of exclusivity” date, to the detriment of the European consumer.