Michael Clancy

AG Kokott Supports Application of Article 102 TFEU to Acquisitions of Small Promising Firms in Life Sciences and Other High Technology Sectors In a non-binding opinion given to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Advocate General Kokott yesterday expressed the view that (...)

The European Commission (the Commission ) adopted today a revised Informal Guidance Notice ( IGN ) that explains the business community how to obtain a guidance letter that addresses unresolved or novel questions regarding the application of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the (...)

On 28 September 2022, the Competition Council of the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority ( DCCA ) issued 6 recommendations to bolster competition, ensure lower prices and improve service in the pharmacy sector (see, attachment). The recommendations stem from an analysis of competitive (...)

On 6 September 2022, the European Commission (the Commission ) prohibited the acquisition of cancer detection test start-up Grail by genetic and genomic analysis firm Illumina (see, attached Commission press releases). This decision formed the dramatic culmination of a procedure which the (...)

On 20 August 2021, the European Commission (the Commission ) said that it would investigate whether Illumina’s decision, made public on 18 August 2021, to acquire Grail pending the Commission’s review of that transaction under Regulation 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between (...)

Yesterday, the General Court of the European Union came down on the side of the European Commission (the Commission ) in that agency’s dispute with genomics firm Illumina and held that the Commission has jurisdiction to examine Illumina’s acquisition of cancer detection test start-up Grail, (...)

On 16 June 2022, the Luxemburg Competition Authority (LCA) published its report (the Report) detailing the outcome of a sector inquiry into medicines and pharmacies (see, attached press release and Report). The Report does not analyse possibly anticompetitive behaviour of private firms but (...)

On 1 June 2022, the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) upheld the judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal, which in turn largely upheld the 2017 decision of the French Competition Authority (FCA) to impose fines of EUR 25 million on Janssen Cilag and its parent company Johnson & Johnson (...)

On 31 March 2022, the CMA published one of its longest decisions (1077 pages), in which it imposed fines of £155 million on Accord-UK (previously Auden McKenzie/Actavis) for excessive price increases on hydrocortisone tablets after they were de-branded and fell outside the UK NHS price (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) announced today that it imposed a fine of EUR 29.8 million on McKesson subsidiary and pharmaceutical wholesaler Pharma Belgium-Belmedis (PBB) on account of that firm’s participation in an alleged cartel between 2003 and 2016 (see, attached press release). (...)

The Dutch competition authority today announced, and at the same time closed, a case concerning pricing strategies against biosimilar competitors. The case concerns the product Enbrel (etanercept - a TNF inhibitor use for treatment of autoimmune diseases), and involves alleged conditional (...)

On 3 February 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that – following an investigation into the conduct of several pharmaceutical firms – it had fined several firms a total of over £35 million for an anti-competitive arrangement in the supply of important National Health (...)

On 6 December 2021, the Romanian competition authority announced that it conducted a dawn raid at the premises of Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) to investigate allegedly abusive conduct which targeted generic rivals of two of BI’s innovative medicines (see, attached press release in Romanian and (...)

Less than a month ago, the European Commission (the Commission) announced that it would open an investigation to determine whether Illumina’s decision to acquire Grail pending its review of that transaction under Regulation 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (the (...)

On 28 September 2021, the European Commission (the Commission) launched a public consultation that probes for stakeholders’ views on the reform of the pharmaceutical regulatory framework. The consultation will run until 21 December 2021 and marks a new milestone in a long-running debate (...)

In September 2021, the European Commission (the Commission) announced that it would open an investigation to determine whether Illumina’s decision to acquire Grail pending its review of that transaction under Regulation 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (the Merger (...)

On 20 August 2021, the European Commission (the Commission) announced that it would investigate whether Illumina’s decision, made public on 18 August 2021, to acquire Grail pending the Commission’s review of that transaction under Regulation 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between (...)

On 29 July 2021, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) imposed fines totalling more than £101 million on Advanz Pharma and previous owners, Cinven and HgCapital, for charging excessive and unfair prices for liothyronine tablets – a treatment for hypothyroidism (see Press Release). In (...)

On 20 July 2021, the ACM announced that it had imposed a fine of € 19,569,500 on Leadiant for abusing its dominant position by charging excessive prices for chenodeoxycholic acid-Leadiant (“CDCA”), a medicine indicated for the treatment of patients suffering from cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis, a (...)

On 15 July 2021, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) imposed fines of more than GBP 260 million on the hydrocortisone tablet suppliers, Auden Mckenzie and Actavis (now named Accord-UK) for charging excessive and unfair prices and for paying potential rivals to remain out of the (...)

On 15 July 2021, the CMA imposed fines of more than £260 million on the hydrocortisone tablet suppliers, Auden Mckenzie and Actavis (now named Accord-UK), for charging excessive and unfair prices and for paying potential rivals to remain out of the market (see CMA Press Release). CMA Chief (...)

On 31 March 2022, the CMA published one of its longest decisions (1077 pages), in which it imposed fines of £155 million on Accord-UK (previously Auden McKenzie/Actavis) for excessive price increases on hydrocortisone tablets after they were de-branded and fell outside the UK NHS price (...)

On 18 June 2021, the Dutch competition authority, Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM), announced that it would prepare guidelines to counter “vendor lock-in” in information technology systems for the healthcare sector, principally hospital information systems and electronic patient files. As a (...)

In a controversial move, the European Commission (the Commission) announced on 20 April 2021 that it would review the proposed acquisition of cancer detection test start-up Grail by genomics firm Illumina, both of the US. The Commission acted on a request of France, which was backed by three (...)

On 2 April 2021, the Austrian competition authority accepted commitments and closed its case concerning pricing strategies alleged to unlawfully hinder entry by generic competitors. According to the authority’s press release, the investigated pricing strategy concerned the product Temodal (...)

On Monday 29 March 2021, the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition (the Commission) published its second “new style” comfort letter. It was addressed to the organisers of an online “matchmaking event” that runs on 29 and 31 March 2021 and brings together more than 300 parties (...)

On 25 March 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) dismissed all appeals against the decision of the European Commission (the Commission) to fine Lundbeck and four generic pharmaceutical companies (Alpharma, Arrow, Merck, and Ranbaxy) for concluding “pay-for-delay” patent (...)

On 18 March 2021, the Official Journal of the European Union published a European Commission (Commission) Notice on “tools to fight collusion in public procurement and on guidance on how to apply the related exclusion ground” (see, attached copy; the Notice). The Notice develops the tools which (...)

1. Background of Case On 18 March 2021, the Italian highest administrative court, the Consiglio di Stato (the CS), decided to refer a case under its review for the second time to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) pursuant to Article 267 TFEU. The case finds its origin in a (...)

On 18 March 2021, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) delivered its judgment in Pometon SpA v European Commission (Case C-440/19) in connection with the Steel Abrasives cartel case. In its judgment, the ECJ partially upheld the appeal in so far as it found that the General Court had breached (...)

In February 2021, the European Commission’s (“Commission”) long-running excessive pricing case against Aspen was brought to a close, with Aspen accepting a series of forward-looking pricing and supply commitments, but avoiding any fines or requirements to repay all of the higher prices charged (...)

For those following the headlines in the pharmaceutical sector, you will be well aware that the competition authorities in Europe are aggressively prosecuting companies for practices that restrict entry by generic suppliers. Headline cases in the last year include the European Commission’s (...)