EU Commission opens antitrust proceedings against Johnson & Johnson and Novartis

The European Commission revealed last Friday that it has opened an antitrust investigation, on its own initiative, to assess whether contractual arrangements between US drug major Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and the generic branches of the Switzerland-based Novartis (NOVN: VX) may have had the object or effect of hindering the entry on to the market of generic versions of the chronic pain drug fentanyl in the Netherlands.

The opening of proceedings does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation but means that the Commission will deal with the case as a matter of priority, it says.

If the contractual arrangements had indeed had the object or effect of hindering the entry on to the market of generic versions of fentanyl, this would potentially represent a breach of EU antitrust rules, specifically Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) which bans practices that restrict competition.