BRIEF—European Commission's latest report on pharma patent settlements

The European Commission on Friday published its eighth monitoring report on pharmaceutical patent settlements.

The report covers the 107 patent settlements concluded between originator and generic companies in the pharmaceutical sector in 2016.

The annual monitoring exercise started as a follow-up to the Commission's competition inquiry in the pharmaceutical sector, which was concluded in 2009.

The eight monitoring exercises have shown that the Commission's enforcement activities in this area do not discourage companies from settling their patent disputes.

The number of settlements that might attract competition law scrutiny has progressively decreased since the 2008 pharmaceutical sector inquiry and has stabilized at a low level of around 10%.