THE NEW
INQUISITION
Reading the riot act: Neelie Kroes at
European Union headquarters in Brussels
announcing the drug industry probe.
the market authorizations for Losec capsules in Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden with the intent of blocking or delaying entry by generics, while continuing to market the drug
through other delivery methods. In the end, the generics
got their capsules into Scandinavia, but AstraZeneca does
not accept that it improperly thwarted competition, and
has appealed the case to the Court of First Instance in
Luxembourg.
Also in 2005, the E.C. launched a probe into allegations
that GlaxoSmithKline used vexatious litigation and abused
the patent system to ward off generic producers of Seroxat,
an antidepressant marketed as Paxil in the U.S. The investigation is apparently ongoing; Glaxo declined to comment.
Then, in February 2007, the Commission turned its sights
on Boehringer, amid allegations the firm was misusing the
patent system to keep generic rivals out of the market for
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drugs. “We are not
100 percent clear what the inquiry is aiming at,” says Boehringer spokesperson Judith von Gordon-Weichelt.
The generic drug industry is mostly applauding the Commission’s hard line. The branded companies’ “persistent
misuse of patent law and litigation” presents a huge threat Robert McLeod is the editor-in-chief of MLex Market Intel-
to the development of cheaper medicines for cash-strapped ligence, a Brussels-based service providing commentary and
national treasuries, says Warwick Smith, director of the analysis on regulatory risk in Europe.
Lawcom eNewsletter Print Ads:eNewswire Ad_7x4.625 3/3/08 4:15 PM Page 1
British Generic Manufacturers Association, the main British
trade group. He says there is a “growth in secondary or frivolous patents that would fail a formal test on obviousness.”
But the generic companies may also get some unwelcome
attention from the E.C. “Settlements where generic manufacturers stay out of markets in exchange for some sort
of benefit will come under the microscope,” says Thomas
Vinje, an antitrust expert at Clifford Chance in Brussels.
The E.C. is on the lookout for deals that “engage in anticom-petitive behavior under the guise of rights,” Vinje says. “IP
laws encourage creativity; antitrust law is the same.”
VIRGINIA MAYO/AP PHO TO
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