The EU Court of Justice dismisses the appeals of several manufacturers of medicines against the General Court’s judgment upholding the Commission’s pay-for-delay infringement decision (Lundbeck)

On 25 March 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) dismissed the appeals by Lundbeck, Merck KGaA (and Generics UK), Arrow, Alpharma (and Xellia) and Ranbaxy, against the General Court’s (“GC”) judgment upholding the European Commission’s (“Commission”) 2013 pay-for-delay infringement decision. Background The case concerns the antidepressant containing the active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”) citalopram. Lundbeck’s patents for the API and two processes to produce it were protected in a number of European countries until 2003 (“Lundbeck’s original patents”). Over time, Lundbeck developed other processes for the production of citalopram, in respect of which it obtained various patents (“Lundbeck’s new process patents”). In 2002, Lundbeck entered into settlement