UK's CAT upholds decision on GSK pay-for-delay pharma deals

The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has upheld the CMA decision that pharma major GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and some generic suppliers of the anti-depressant paroxetine broke competition law.

The Tribunal has, however, imposed reduced fines of £27.1 million ($38.3 million) on the firms involved.

Paroxetine, the active ingredient of GSK’s once blockbuster but now off-patent brands Paxil and Seroxat, is relied on by patients to relieve symptoms of depression. GSK had agreed to make payments totalling £50 million to other generic suppliers of paroxetine, including Generics (UK) Limited (GUK) and Alpharma Limited (Alpharma), in settlement of patent litigation.