15
Apr 21
Pay-for-delay: The Court of Justice clarifies the scope of “by object” restrictions and “potential competition” in patent settlement cases
On March 25, 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on appeal in the Lundbeck case, confirming the previous judgement of the General Court that upheld the decision of the European Commission on pharmaceutical “pay-for-delay” agreements.
14
Apr 21
COVID-19 vaccine production: The European Commission issues a comfort letter on cooperation between companies in the supply chain
On March 25, 2021, the European Commission (hereinafter, the “Commission”) issued a “comfort letter” on the compliance of the “Matchmaking Event – Towards COVID-19 vaccines upscale production” (hereinafter, the “Matchmaking Event” or the “Event”) with EU competition law.
15
Oct 20
Italian Competition Authority says that the rules on the remuneration of health care services provided by pharmacies are anti-competitive
The Italian Competition Authority once again criticizes the introduction of legislative provisions that reserve only to pharmacies the provision of certain public health services paid by the NHS
9
Jun 20
Italian Competition Authority approves two emergency cooperation projects: one for joint distribution of surgical masks and one common moratorium scheme on consumer lending
On May 27, 2020, for the first time the Italian Competition Authority (“AGCM”) applied its communication on cooperation agreements in the context of the COVID-19 emergency (“Italian Communication”), applicable since April 24, 2020.
5
Feb 20
Who can request authorization to advertise medicines? Answers from the AGCM
The Italian Competition Authority (hereinafter the “AGCM“) recently expressed an opinion and addressed a recommendation to the Ministry of Health (the “Ministry”) regarding the parties entitled to request authorization to advertise medicinal products to the public (resolution No. AS1628 of December 9, 2019
4
Dec 19
Under what circumstances may an incumbent associate with a competitor in a public tender? The ICA provides useful guidance in the field of plasma derivatives.
In January 2018, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM, or “ICA”) launched an investigation for a possible breach of Article 101 TFEU against two international manufacturers of blood-based pharmaceuticals – Kedrion S.p.A (“Kedrion”) and Grifols Italia S.p.A (“Grifols”) – for participating as a joint venture in a public tender (issued by a contracting authority acting on behalf of a group Italian regions, “Intercent-ER”) to collect blood and plasma, to produce plasma derivatives and to deliver these to the Italian National Health System (NHS).
