The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7498 p461
19 April 2008

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Setback for GSK over drug distribution in Greece

GlaxoSmithKline has been dealt a blow in its long-running battle over the distribution of its drugs in Greece following EU legal opinion published earlier this month.

Advocate General Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo, from the Court of Justice of European Communities, announced that a pharmaceutical company that holds a dominant position and refuses to meet the orders of wholesalers in order to limit parallel trade engages in “abusive practice”.

He went on to describe the European pharmaceutical market as an imperfect market with a low level of harmonisation which, because of drug patent controls, allowed manufacturers to assume positions of dominance easily.

The comments by Mr Ruiz-Jarabo are, however, not binding on the judges at the European Court of Justice who are currently considering the GSK case.

The case hinges on the company’s decision from March 2001 to restrict the quantities of three of its products supplied to wholesalers and pharmacies in Greece in order to try to restrict parallel importing by other EU countries from Greece.

The comments by the Advocate General were seized upon by the European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies that described his opinion as “an important step forward in the fight to prevent pharmaceutical manufacturers from artificially partitioning the EU single market”.

The EAEPC secretary general Heinz Kobelt said it was “a clear signal in support of competition, free movement of medicines and consumer benefit”.

The case now before the European Court of Justice follows an earlier decision by the competition authorities in Greece that GSK had not acted unlawfully in restricting drug supplies. A GSK spokeswoman said: “GlaxoSmithKline is reviewing the Advocate General’s opinion in detail and therefore cannot comment on it at this stage.

“The company also notes that the final judgment on this matter will be made by the European Court of Justice and that the court is not obliged to follow the opinion of the Advocate General which is not binding.”