European Court rejects parallel import case
Parallel importers have claimed victory after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) declined to rule on a case referred by Greek authorities (PJ,
6 November 2004, p673).
The court rejected the case referred to it by the Greek competition commission
on the ground that the commission did not have the right to refer cases.
Following the decision, the president of the European Association of
Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies, Hans Bøgh Sørensen, said: “We
would naturally have preferred the ECJ to take a position on this important
matter and had hoped it would give a clear European signal that the behaviour
of GlaxoSmithKline in Greece, in trying to illegally restrict the supply
of medicines, was
anticompetitive as well as dangerous for patient health. But the interim
measures in place from the Greek authorities mean that Glaxo has to meet
in full orders for the three medicines Imigran, Lamictal and Serevent.”
The EAEPC’s view is that in declining to rule, the court failed
to uphold its own advocate general’s opinion that GSK was entitled
to restrict supplies in countries whose governments keep prices artificially
low. |
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