COMPETITION AND ANTITRUST CHALLENGES IN THE LIFE SCIENCES SECTOR
R&C: Could you provide an overview of key developments around competition/antitrust in the life sciences sector?
Antypas: Competition law enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector has been a high priority for competition authorities in Europe in recent years. Substantial fines running into millions of euros have been imposed on pharmaceutical companies found to have engaged in excessive pricing, abusive patent strategies and market sharing/pay-for-delay arrangements aimed at preventing or delaying the market entry of generic medicines. This focus is likely to remain in the post-COVID-19 era, which has placed access to affordable and innovative medicines, and other critical healthcare products, even higher on the political agenda. Mergers, and notably the risk of ‘killer acquisitions’ in the sector, such as the Illumina-Grail deal, are also under increased scrutiny by the European Commission (EC), in particular in highly innovative sectors, including pharma and biotech. The concern is that the acquisition of small and start-up companies may be deployed as a strategy by large established market players to remove future competition, keeping prices high and reducing innovation.
Apr-Jun 2022 Issue
Ashurst LLP
Hogan Lovells