On 10 October 2022, the European Commission (“EU Commission“) formally adopted a Statement of Objections (“SO“) against Teva over an alleged abuse of dominance concerning its blockbuster drug Copaxone, which is used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
As we reported in March 2021, the EU Commission was investigating for the first time a company for its filing strategies concerning divisional patents.
The EU Commission has now preliminarily concluded that Teva did indeed engage in anti-competitive practices in violation of the EU competition rules prohibiting abuses of a dominant position. In the words of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, the EU Commission believes that “Teva may have misused the patent system to shield itself from competition. It may have spread misleading information to discredit its closest competitor, to the detriment of patients and public health systems across the EU.”
Adoption of an SO is a major step which moves the case from a pure investigatory phase to a formal charge sheet against the company concerned. There is still very little publicly available information on the EU Commission’s concerns. The press release provides the following additional details:
- Teva allegedly abused its dominant position in the markets for glatiramer acetate in seven Member States, namely Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.
- The alleged anti-competitive practices have taken place from February 2015 “until today”.
- As announced in its first press release, the EU Commission believes that Teva engaged in two abusive conducts – misuse of divisional patents and a disparagement (denigration) campaign. However, the EU Commission now further indicates that Teva engaged in such practices “with an overall
- , abusive under the competition rules. Given the EU Commission’s current focus on abusive conduct in the pharmaceutical sector, companies in the sector will need to be particularly cautious when implementing their IP strategies to manage antitrust risk.
For further information, please contact:
Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills
kyriakos.fountoukakos@hsf.com
