EFPIA responds to European Commission's patent settlement report with own transparency proposal

The European Commission has published its fifth Monitoring Report of Patent Settlements in the pharma industry.

It believes patent settlements have the potential to infringe competition law when they cause generics suppliers to delay bringing a generic version of a drug to market in exchange for a value transfer from the original patent-holder of the drug, including commercial benefits other than payment. The EC stated it did not presume patent settlements violated competition rules, and that it would consider them on a case-by-case basis.

Pharma patent settlements are increasing