A Substantial Approach to Competition Law Issues in the Pharmaceutical Sector. The Ruling of the CJEU in Hoffman-La Roche vs. AGCM
ABA International Antitrust Committee - Perspective on International Antitrust
12 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2018
Date Written: June 10, 2018
Abstract
When competition law meets intellectual property, and particularly patent law, it is never easy for competition authorities and judges to strike a balance between these two fields of law. A compromise is even more complicated in the pharmaceutical sector, where also sectorial regulation comes into play and where human health and the sustainability of public budgets are relevant values at stake. The purpose of this paper is to comment the CJEU's preliminary ruling on Hoffman-La Roche vs. AGCM, an unusual cartel case where many features come into play, including competition among licensor and licensee, strategy on communication related to the safety of the drugs and the interplay between competition and sectorial regulation.
Keywords: Competition Law, Antitrust, Pharmaceutical, Cartel, CJEU
JEL Classification: K20, K21
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation