European Generic Medicines Association speaks out against EC’s perindopril decision

The European Generic Medicines Association (EGA) has expressed concerns over the European Commission’s policy regarding competition law investigations on patent settlements in pharmaceuticals, following the EC’s decision on the perindopril case.

The EC has imposed fines to the value of 427.7 million euros ($583 million) on French privately-held drugmaker Servier, and five producers of generic medicines (Niche/Unichem, Matrix, Teva, Krka and Lupin) for their deals to protect Servier’s blood pressure medicine perindopril from price competition from American generics companies.

European Commission vice-president Joaquín Almunia, in charge of competition policy, said: "Servier had a strategy to systematically buy out any competitive threats to make sure that they stayed out of the market. Such behavior is clearly anti-competitive and abusive. Competitors cannot agree to share markets or market rents instead of competing, even when these agreements are in the form of patent settlements. Such practices directly harm patients, national health systems and taxpayers. Pharmaceutical companies should focus their efforts on innovating and competing rather than attempting to extract extra rents from patients."