Co-operation grows between European original and generic drug companies
Brussels says settlement agreements less likely to lead to generic sales restrictions
The European Commission claims that original product and generic pharmaceutical manufacturers are increasingly co-operating, and where they strike agreements, they are less likely to restrict generic sales.
Its 2013 survey on the issue said 183 patent settlement agreements were concluded between originator and generic companies in 2012 within the European Union (EU), compared with 120 in 2011. And while this is partly explained by a new generic drugs regulation in Portugal, this was 'the fifth year in a row where the total number of settlements increased', the Commission said.
Settlements limiting the sales of generics have also 'decreased significantly in importance and number'. It added: 'While they accounted for 45 out of 207 (or 22%) of all settlements reported between 2000 and the first half of 2008 they stood at only 7% (or 12 out of 183) of all settlements concluded in 2012.'
The Commission argued that the rise in agreements overall, showed that its antitrust action against such restrictive practices 'has not hindered companies in settling patent disputes nor driven them to litigate such disputes until the end'.
'Companies are increasingly aware of the competition concerns that some settlements may raise,' said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia.
