Stalemate over scheme to stifle parallel importing
Both parallel importers and GlaxoSmithKline have claimed victory in
a European Court case over the legality of GSK's dual pricing scheme
in Spain (PDF 100K).
GSK says that it has won because the European Court of First Instance
has annulled a European Commission decision banning the company from
charging Spanish wholesalers one price, if they distribute medicines
internally in Spain, and a higher price if the medicines are for re-export
to another European country (PJ, 2 June 2001, p737).
A counter-claim of victory by the European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical
Companies is based on a second ruling in the same case that upholds the
commission’s decision that dual pricing is not permitted under
European competition law.
At the end of last month, the court said that the commission was right
to conclude that dual-pricing was a restriction on competition. But it
said that the commission should reconsider its prohibition because it
did not look closely enough at the economic arguments for and against
the scheme and their effect on pharmaceutical innovation.
Marie Manley, intellectual property partner at law firm, Bristows, said: “The
EU commission has been slapped again by the Court of First Instance.
However, pharmaceutical companies are still in a foggy uncertainty in
relation to the legality of a dual pricing scheme. We will need a second
round of
arguments and at least a second visit to the European courts before this
issue is fully
resolved”. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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