AZ to appeal against fine
AstraZeneca is to appeal to the European Court of Justice against a €60m fine imposed by the European Commission.
The fine was imposed last week after the commission said that AZ had
deliberately misused the European patent and medicines authorisation
systems to deter generic competition to Losec (omeprazole) and parallel
imports of the drug.
From 1993 to 2000, AZ is alleged to have given misleading information
to several national patent offices to gain extended patent protection
through supplementary protection certificates (SPCs). The commission
further alleged that the company sought, and was granted, the selective
cancellation of marketing authorisations so that generic products, requiring
an original comparator product, and parallel imports, could be blocked.
AstraZeneca said that it acted in good faith and did not make any misleading
representations to obtain SPCs. |
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